m^^^^^D 



No. IV. 



A 



^M^. 



LECHFORD'S PLAIN DEALING; 



OR, 



Nezvs frovi New Englaitd. 



rg>,^ 



Plain Dealing 



O R 



3^eU>s from MtW ^nglantr 



B V 



THOMAS LECHFORD 



lV/7// AN INTKODLC'J'JON AND NOTES 



J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL 



c^c^cri-^sP 



of Cor 

13«7 



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(^ iJ s 1 11 

J. K. WIGGIN & WM. PARSONS LUNT 

iM DCCC LXVII 



r 



Entered, according to A&. of Congrefs, in the year 1867, by 

WIGGIN & LUNT, 

In the Clerk's Office of the Diftrid Court of the Diftridl of Maffachufetts. 



JVo. f .f 



EDITION: 



Tzvo Hundred and EigJity-fivc copies, of which TJiirty-five are 
Royal Quarto. 



Press of Geo. C. Rand & Avery. 



K^^- 



^^^m 



£r> 



George Brinley, Esq., 

OF HARTFORD, 

A SUCCESSFUL COLLECTOR AND A CAREFUL READER OF ALL THAT ILLUSTRATES 
THE EARLY HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND, 

WHATEVER THERE MAY BE OF VALUE IN 



%\\i (Sbitioir of " ^Ihiu pealing,' 



THE PREPARATION OF WHICH WAS UNDERTAKEN ON HIS SUGGESTION, 

IS, 
IN SLIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MANY OBLIGATIONS, 

DEDICATED 

BY HIS FRIEND, 

THE EDITOR. 




INTRODUCTION 

BY THE EDITOR. 

In the year 1858, the late Samuel Jennison, Esq., of Worcester, 
— for many years an officer of the American Antiquarian Soci- 
ety, and well known as a diligent and successful student of the 
history of New England, — invited me to examine a manuscript 
volume of which he had become the possessor. Of this volume, 
its authorship and contents, Mr. Jennison wrote the following 
account : — 



" It is now some time since a friend, knowing that I had some curi- 
osity in relation to matters of antiquity, and thinking I might find some- 
thing to gratify it in a small folio, in manuscript, in broken but venerable 
binding, which was then in his possession, placed the same in my hands. 
He did not know the writer or the contents ; for the style of penmanship 
was that of more than two centuries ago, and although not unusually 
indistinct for its kind, could not easily be read by one unaccustomed to 
the chirography of the time. It proved, on inspection, to be a journal- 
book kept by Thomas Lechford, whose claim to the reputation of 
having been the first Boston laivyer is, I believe, unquestioned. It con- 
tains a record of the business transactions in which he was, from day 
to day, engaged, commencing with his settlement in Boston, and con- 
tinued until his return to England ; embracing many facts of historical 
and genealogical interest. I have awaited a season of leisure and relief 
from other occupations to transcribe and prepare it for publication." 

It is much to be regretted that the work of transcription and 
preparation, commenced by Mr. Jennison, was laid aside before 
being completed, and the public thereby deprived of the valuable 

2 IX 



X INTRODUCTION. 

illustration such a volume must have received in the hands of 
so competent an editor. 

In this Journal, Lechford had made numerous entries in 
short-hand, some of which are of considerable length, and one 
occupies an entire page. It was for the purpose of asking assist- 
ance in deciphering these, that Mr. Jennison first submitted the 
volume to my inspection. I recognized the characters employed, 
as belonging to a system with which I had previously become 
tolerably familiar, and promised to furnish the desired transla- 
tions whenever I could find leisure for the work. Mr. Jennison 
died (March ir, i860) before this promise could be redeemed. 
Until the spring of 1865, I found it impossible to devote the 
time requisite for the study of the cipher, and for a more 
thorough examination of the volume. On application to Samuel 
Jennison, Esq., of Boston, into whose possession the manuscript 
had come by the decease of his father, he not only most obli- 
gingly consented to intrust it to my hands for so long a time as 
should be necessary for deciphering the short-hand, but subse- 
quently, with a liberality for which I am glad to have this oppor- 
tunity of acknowledging my obligations, authorized me to pub- 
lish, in a limited edition, the entire manuscript, and materially 
lightened the labor of preparation by permitting me to make 
use of an abstract of the volume and an index, which his father 
had made. 

The first instalment of this publication was nearly ready for 
the printer when Lechford's Plain Dealing was announced for 
re-impression in the "Library of New-England History." I con- 
sented to become the editor of this volume, because it seemed 
desirable that it should receive the benefit of whatever new 
material the author's journal and manuscript letters might sup- 
ply for its illustration, and because much of this material might 
be more advantageously employed in notes to Plain Dealing 
than in a separate publication. Meanwhile, the preparation of 
the Journal for the press has been suspended. But the work is 
already resumed, and a volume will shortly be published com- 



INTRODUCTION. xi 

prising Lechford's entries of business transactions, copies or 
abstracts of instruments drawn by him, and letters to his corres- 
pondents in New and Old England, between June 27, 1638, and 
Dec. 31, 1639. For that volume, the ensuing sketch of the little 
that is known of Lechford's personal history, and estimate of the 
man and his book, was originally prepared. The prior announce- 
ment of Plain Dealing, by the publishers, and its necessary pre- 
cedence in the series, have compelled me to employ the same 
materials, in almost the same form, by way of introduction to 
two separate but nearly connected publications. 

Of the birth and parentage of Thomas Lechford, or of his 
early life, I have no certain knowledge. His surname is that of 
a family, which, at about the middle of the sixteenth century, 
became seated at Leigh, near Reigate, in the county of Surrey, 
where Henry Lechford, great-grandson of a Thomas Lechford 
who lived in the reign of Edward IV. (1461-1482), bought the 
manors of Shellwood and Charlwood, with other estates; This 
Henry, dying, Sept. 27, 1567, left a son Richard, born in 1547, who 
was knighted. Sir Richard Lechford was twice married ; first, 
to Ann, daughter of George Lusher, by whom he had two sons^ 
John and Thomas ; and, secondly, to Eleanor, daughter of Wil- 
liam Morgan, of Chilworth, Esq. Henry, a son of the second 
marriage, died in 1606, before his father, but left a son Richard 
(born, about December, 1594), who inherited the estates of his 
grandfather on the death of the latter, July 10, 161 1. John and 
Thomas, above named, sons of Sir Richard by his first wife, were 
living in 1606, when they are named in a deed of settlement by 
their father on his second wife and her children.* Their nephew, 
Richard Lechford, was knighted by James L Early in the reign 
of Charles L, he was enrolled in the band of " Gentlemen Pen- 
sioners," who constituted the king's body-guard. Like many 
other courtiers of his day, he became a Roman Catholic, and 
found his new religion no bar to royal favor, notwithstanding the 

* Manning and Bray's History of Surrey, ii. l8i, 184-5, l^^- 



XII INTRODUCTION. 

unabated severity of the Laws against " popish recusants." His 
eldest daughter, Letitia (" alias Bridget," as she is named in the 
record), remained a Protestant, and, about 1633, was confirmed 
in the Church of England, to the great displeasure of her father.* 
Not long afterwards, while Sir Richard was in attendance upon 
the king in his journey to Scotland, this daughter Letitia and a 
younger sister Mary, who had been placed under the care of an 
aunt living near London, were detained by warrant from the 
High Commission when about to sail from England for some 
foreign port. Their father alleged that they had embarked with- 
out his knowledge, and were attempting to escape from his 
authority ; but another and more probable version of the story is 
given by a well-informed writer (the Rev. George Gerrard, the 
gossipping London correspondent of the Earl of Strafford), in a 
letter dated May i, 1634:! — 

" Sir Richard Lafliford,! a penfioner in ordinaiy, was fending two of 
his daughters to the nunneries beyond the feas ; being to take Ihipping 
in fome of the Kentifli ports, they w^ere ftopp'd and fent back to Lon- 
don. My Lord's Grace of Canterbury [Laud] being made acquainted 
with it, fent for the father, who offered to give caution that they fhould 
not go out of England; but my Lord afked him, whether he would en- 
gage himfelf that they fliould conform themfelves to the religion of the 
Church of England, which he refufed. He afked then of him, of what 
religion he was? He faid, A Romifh Catholick, and but lately con- 
verted. He offered him both the Oaths, which peremptorily he refufed. 
The Archbifliop then told him, he was not a fit fervant to be of the 
King's principal Guard, that would not take the oath of allegiance unto 
his Majefly. Since he hath been brought before the Lords, abfolutely 
put out of his place, and another fworn into it." 



* Caloidar of Brit. State Papers (Do- ally written. Evelyn (Z'w^j, ii. 56, Bohn's 

mast. Ser., Charles I.), 1633-4, pp. 23, edit.) mentions, under date of Sept. 13, 

536, 348, 581. 1670, going "to vifit Sir Richard Lalh- 

t ^irdi^ord^s Letters and Dispat., \. 2i\2. ford, [his] kinfman." Elsewhere, we find 

X So the name appears to have been the same name written Leecheforde. See 

generally pronounced, and was occasion- note (t) on the next page. 



INTRODUCTION. xiii 

A few weeks afterwards, the same correspondent wrote : * — 

" The Penfioner, Sir Richard Lafliford, was again called before the 
Lords, when the oath of allegiance was again offered to him, but he 
utterly refufed it. So order was given to the Attorney to indite him in 
the King's Bench of a Preimmire ; but being brought thither, he took it 
before the Judges, which if he had done before, 'tis likely he had not 
been put from his Penfioner's place." 

In other words, the influence of the court upon the judges, or 
a " letter of grace and protection," such as the king, about this 
time, was accustomed to grant to his courtiers who were papists, 
would have stayed proceedings against him for recusancy. 

In November, 1634, Sir Richard sold the manor of Shellwood, 
and other estates in Surrey, and subsequently resided at or near 
Dorking (in the same county), where he died, Sept. 14, 1671.! 

The recurrence of the name of TJioinas in several generations 
of the Lechfords of Shellwood ; the fact that the surname was by 
no means common, and does not appear to have been repre- 
sented in England by any other family than this, of the rank of 
gentry ; with other considerations which it is unnecessary to 
mention here, — render it highly probable, in fact nearly certain, 
that the author of Plain Dealing was of this stock, and nearly 
related to the last-mentioned Sir Richard Lechford, Knt., 1634. 

In the address " To the Reader," Thomas Lechford describes 
himself as " a student or practiser at law." An entry in his jour- 
nal shows that he had been a member of Clement's Inn before he 
came to New England ; and he resumed his residence there after 
his return to London, in 1641, as the title-page oi Plain Dealing 
informs us. In an order of the General Court of Massachusetts, 

* Strafford's Letters aud Dispatches, i. chevron betw. three leopards' heads, ar- 

261. gent. Crest, on a wreath of the same 

t Manning & Bray, i. 586. The arms colors, a unicorn's head erased, argent, 

confirmed to " Sir Richard Leechforde maned, bearded, and horned or, bearing 

of Shelwood," Nov. 22, 1605, by W. Se- on the same a serpent proper. Howard's 

gar, Garter, are thus blazoned: Sable, z. Miscel.Geneal.et Herald. {Oz\..\Zb(i),^.'j^if. 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

made in 1647, he is described as "an ordinary solicitor \\\ Eng- 
land." * It does not appear that he was ever called to the bar. 
The Inns of Chancery, of which Clement's was one, were so 
called " probably because they were appropriated to such clerks 
as chiefly studied the forming of zvrits, which was the province 
of the cursitors, who are officers of chancery, and such as belong 
to the courts of common pleas and king's bench." f In Stowe's 
time, they were " chiefly filled with attorneys, solicitors, and 
clerks." By an order of the judges, April 15, 1630, "attorneys 
and solicitors, which are but ministerial persons of an inferior 
nature," though permitted to occupy chambers in the inns of 
chancery, were excluded from the inns of court, and conse- 
quently from a call to the bar. J In his defence before the court 
of magistrates at Boston, in December, i640,§ Lechford said of 
himself: " I am no pleader, by nature ; oratory I have little, . . . 
and if I had never so expert a faculty that way, I should not 
now use it, . . . and as for the other part of pleading which 
consisteth in chirography, || ivJicrcin I had some little skill, I do 
not desire to use any of that," &c. 

When Hugh Peters was lecturer in St. Sepulchre, in London, 
— before the persecution of Laud drove him to Rotterdam, in 
1629 or 1630, — Lechford was one of his hearers, and "hung 
upon his ministry," as he expresses it in a letter to Peters, writ- 
ten in 1639.^ Some years later, he was in Ireland, with Sir 
Thomas Wentworth (afterwards Earl of Strafford), then lord 
deputy. In what capacity he went, or how long he remained 



* Mass. Col. Records, ii. 206. old law, a chirographer signified " him in 

t Herbert's Inns of Court and Chan- the Common Pleas office {in Commtmi 

eery, 169. Banco) that ingroffeth Fines in that Court 

\ Dugdale's Origities yndicales, 320. acknowledged . . . and that writeth and 

§ See after, page xxxiii.; and note 256, delivereth the IndenUcres of them unto 

on page 157 of this volume. the parties" (Minsheu, 1627) ; and a chi- 
ll This word appears to be used here rograph was a bill, bond, or deed-in- 

in its more modern sense, for the business dented, written in the maker's own hand. 

of a draughtsman and scrivener. In the IT Copied, in short-hand, in Mx^ajottrnal. 



INTRODUCTION. xv 

there, does not appear.* In 1640, when he contemplated depar- 
ture from New England, he wrote to one of his correspondents, 
that he was desirous to return to Ireland, " there to follow his 
old profession, where he had some hope of friendship." f 

In the address " To the Reader," of Plain Dealing, he alludes 
to the fact, " well knowne unto many, that heretofore he suffered 
imprisonment, and a kind of banishment, ... for some acts con- 
strued to oppose, and as tending to subvert Episcopacie, and the 
settled Ecclesiastical government of England." His offence, as 
we learn from a couple of lines in Mr. Cotton's Way of Congre- 
gational ChurcJies cleared, was his "witnessing against the Bish- 
ops, in soliciting the cause of Mr. Prynne." In the judgment of 
Laud and of the High Commission, his crime could hardly 
have been greater, or have merited more severe punishment. 
Prynne, a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, had drawn upon himself the 
vengeance of the archbishop, by the publication, in 1633, oi His- 
triomastix. He was indicted in the Star Chamber, found guilty 
of a libel, and condemned to a barbarous punishment, to be fol- 
lowed by imprisonment for life, for the crime of railing " not only 
against Stage Plays . . . but farther in particular against Hunt- 
ing, Publique Festivals, Christmas-keeping, Bonfires, and May- 
poles," &c. X His real offence (as Hume suggests) was, probably, 
that he had, " in plain terms, blamed the hierarchy, the innova- 
tions in religious worship, and the new superstitions introduced 
by Laud." Four years afterwards, a renewal of this offence called 
for a yet more vindictive prosecution in the same court. On the 
14th of June, 1637, he, with Henry Burton, bachelor of divinity, 
and John Bastwick, a physician, was tried and convicted of 

* Wentworth was appointed lord dep- Strafford and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 

uty in January, 1632, but did not go to — 'SiX.xzSoxdiS Letters and Dispute lies, x.b}^, 

Ireland until July, 1633. In June, 1636, 84; ii. 430, 431; Nalson's Collection, i. 

he came to London, remained about six 280. 

months in England, and returned to Dub- t Letter, without address, dated July 

lin in November. He was not again in 28, 1640, copied, in short-hand, in his 

London until September, 1639. In De- Journal, p. 159. 

cember, 1639, he was created Earl of \ Riishworth, ii. 220. 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

" writing and publishing seditious, schismatical and libellous 
books against the hierarchy of the Church." They were sen- 
tenced to lose their ears in the pillory, to be fined ;^5000 each 
to the king, to perpetual imprisonment in three remote places of 
the kingdom ; and Prynne to be branded on both cheeks with 
the letters S. L., for a "Seditious Libeller." This barbarous sen- 
tence was executed in the palace-yard at Westminster, June 30 ; 
"a spectacle no less strange than sad, to see three of several 
professions, the noblest in the kingdom, Divinity, Law and Phy- 
sick, exposed at one time to such an ignominious punishment, 
and condemned to it by Protestant magistrates, for such tenets 
in religion as the greatest pai't of Protestants in England held, 
and all the reformed churches in Europe maintained." * Lnme- 
diately after summons was issued for Prynne's appearance before 
the court, he was shut up close prisoner, refused the use of pen, 
ink, or paper, and not permitted to consult counsel until very 
shortly before his trial. In his speech to the court he said : " I 
was deserted of all means by which I should have drawn my an- 
swer. ... I had neither pen, ink, nor servant to do any thing for 
me ; for my servant was then also close prisoner, under a pursuiv- 
ant's hands." All who rendered the slightest service to Prynne 
or his fellow-offenders fell under condemnation. " One Gardener," 
a scrivener or clerk, who wrote from Prynne's dictation a petition 
to his judges, was apprehended, subjected to fourteen days' im- 
prisonment, and compelled to give a bond for appearance when 
called. His counsel. Holt and Tomlyns, did not dare to sub- 
scribe his answer, after it was drawn and engrossed. After the 
execution of his sentence, some of his friends visited him in 
Chester, on his way to his prison at Caernarvon. Those who 
had so offended were summoned before the Privy Council, cited 
into the High Commission at York, imprisoned and fined, and 
enjoined to make a public recantation.f It is not surprising that 
Lechford, for "soliciting" in Prynne's cause or otherwise assist- 

* May's Hist, of the Pari., b. i. ch, 7. t Hargrave's State Trials, i. 482, 501. 



INTRODUCTION. xvii 

ing his defence, should have been severely dealt with. Of his 
punishment we know no more than he himself has told us, — that 
he " suffered imprisonment and a kind of banishment." 

Lechford landed in Boston one year and thirteen days after 
Prynne's trial in the Star Chamber. Four years and five months 
after the trial (Nov. i6, 1641), he dated his "Quaeres about Church 
government" from his chambers in Clement's Inn, and, on the 
first page of Plain Dealing, speaks of " having been forth of his 
native country almost for the space of four years last past." The 
inference, from comparison of these dates, seems to be, that he 
left England in the autumn or winter of 1637, but did not then 
sail directly for Boston. His imprisonment could not have been 
of many months' duration. 

In the letter to Hugh Peters,* before cited, he writes : — 

" Being thrown out of my ftation in England ... I forfook prefer- 
ment in a Prince's court that was offered to me, who of Chriftian princes 
is the chiefe for godlinefs (as I was affured), Georgius Ragotzki, Prince 
of Tranfylvania and Lord of Lower Hungary, fucceffor to Bethlem 
Gabon t Likewife the Lords of Providence % offered me place of pre- 



* Deciphered from the short-hand copy Earl of Holland, Lord Say and Sele, 

in the Journal, p. 30. Lord Brooke, Sir Benjamin Rudyerd, and 

t George, son of Sigismund Rakoczy, Sir Nathaniel Rich, were among the "Ad- 

or Ragotzki, the representative of a noble venturers for the Plantation of the Islands 

family distinguished for many genera- of Providence, Henrietta, and the adja- 

tions in the annals of Transylvania, was cent Islands " (the Bahamas), incorpo- 

chosen prince (vaivode) of that province rated by patent of Dec. 4, 1630. In 1636 

in 1631. He married a daughter of Ste- and 1637, the privileges of the company 

phen (brother of Gabor) Bethlem. As a were enlarged, and they were encouraged 

champion of the Protestant cause in Hun- to make liberal advances for promoting 

gary and Bohemia against the Jesuits and the growth of the plantation and fortifying 

their tool, the Emperor Ferdinand II., Providence Island against the Spaniards, 

and afterwards as the ally of Gustavus In^February, 1638, the Earl of Warwick, 

Adolphus, his name was held in high Lord Say and Sele, and Lord Brooke 

honor among the Protestants of Western declared their intention of going them- 

Europe. Hoffmann [Lexicon Univ.) calls selves to the Island ; and a considerable 

him " Princeps pacificus et egregius." number of planters and servants, with a 

} The Earl of Warwick, Henry Rich supply of vessels, were to be sent thither 

3 



XVIII INTRODUCTION. 

ferment with them, which I will not name. Hither I have come, and, 
the Lord knows my heart! fain would I join with your Churches," &c. 

I have not been able to discover the time or place of Lech- 
ford's embarkation for New England, nor in which of the twenty 
ships which brought three thousand passengers to Massachusetts 
in the summer of 1638,* he came. His journal begins with the 
date of his arrival : — 

" Bofton in New-England, 27? 4.' the day of my landing — 1638." 

From some allusions in his letters, especially a reference to 
conversation " on ship-board," I infer that he came fellow-passen- 
ger with Mr. Edmund Browne, afterwards minister of Sudbury, 
and, perhaps, with Emanuel Downing,! the brother-in-law of 
Governor Winthrop. 

From succeeding pages of his journal, we gather some — but 
scanty and unsatisfactory — knowledge of his domestic relations. 
His wife is mentioned, in 1639 ^^'^ afterwards ; and, as no evi- 
dence has been discovered of his marriage on this side of the 
water, we infer that she accompanied him from England ; but 
he nowhere gives any information of her family, nor even intro- 
duces her Christian name. In July, 1640,$ he writes: "I have 
not yet here an house of my owne to put my head in, or any 
stock going." He lived in a house, or part of a house, hired of 
Nathaniel Micklethwaite of Boston, who was, I think, the agent 
or factor in New England of Richard Hutchinson of London, 
and perhaps of Edward and William Hutchinson after their re- 
moval to Rhode Island. 

in advance of the coming of the Lords. * lVi)ithrop, i. 268. 

Great inducements were offered to plan- t Yet I find elsewhere no earlier men- 

ters, and strenuous efforts made to divert tion of Downing's arrival than that in 

emigration from New England to Provi- the records of the Court of September 6, 

dence. Among others thus solicited were 1638. {Mass Records, \.2T,(i.) Mr. Savage 

the Rev. Charles Chauncy, the Rev. Eze- had, apparently, overlooked that refer- 

kiel Rogers, and Capt. John Underhill. — ence, when he wrote the note to VVin- 

Sainsbury's Calendar, 123, 248, 262, 267. throp, i. 274. 

See Plain Dealing, p. 48, and note 198. % Plain Dealing, p. 69. 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

It appears that he paid his rent, until August, 1639, to Samuel 
Hutchinson, and subsequently to Mr. Micklethwaite, whose sig- 
nature appears, on a page of the journal, to the lease of " the 
chamber etc.," at jQs per year, from Sept. i, 1639. From the 
fact that the name of Thomas Savage often occurs as a witness 
to instruments drawn by Lechford, I conjecture that he wqs a 
near neighbor, or perhaps a fellow-tenant under the same roof 
Occasional entries like the following give glimpses of the inte- 
rior of "the chamber etc.," and of Lechford's manner of living: — 

1639. June. "Borrowed of Mr. Story about a month fince 

2'i & halfe of the beft fuger at 2^^ t^g pound 5^- S'^- 

April. " Rec'^ of Mr. Keayne for a filver laced coate 

and a gold wrought cap £2. 10. 

May. " Received of Mr. George Storj' 4 yards and 

halfe a quarter of tuft holland to make my wife a 

waflcoate at 2^^^ ^^ per yarde ii^- 

1640. Jan. 31. "I payd Nathaniel Heaton for full of writings 

& cutting wood 5^- 

Feb. I. "I payd John Hurd, delivered to his wife by 

Sara our mayd, for making my wife's gowne 8^- 

" I payd Thomas Marfhall before hand for 
wood, delivered by my wife to his wife in the 10 
moneth laft part [Dec. 1639] £1. 

Since which time I had of him 6. loads of wood 
at 55- fo I owe him lo*- 

Jan. 12. " Received of Mr. Keayne 6''- of Spanifh to- 
bacco upon account. And I owe him i load of 
wood, a good load. 

" I payd Mr. Burton for malt, cheefe, and 
irons, £1. — and owe him 8^- 9^^ — in loth [month] 
last. 

1 64 1. " Mary Sherman came to my wife the twelveth 
day of Aprill, 1641." 

Almost from the hour of his landing at Boston, he was regarded 
with distrust by those whose influence prevailed in state and 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

church. First, because of his profession ; for, to " some of the 
magistrates," and doubtless to Governor Winthrop himself, the 
employment of " lawyers to direct men in their causes," seemed 
more objectionable than the custom of obtaining advice from the 
judges on an ex parte statement before the public hearing of the 
cause.* Winthrop himself, Bellingham, Humphrey, Dudley, Down- 
ing, — and perhaps Pelham and Bradstreet, — had been students 
of law in England ; but, on this side of the Atlantic, their legal 
knowledge was not called into requisition, except as it contrib- 
uted to qualify them for seats in the Court of Magistrates or as 
legislators for the new colony ; " no advocate being allowed," f 
and the exercise of the profession of an attorney being discoun- 
tenanced so far as possible without absolute interdiction. 

But Lechford was not ^v\y professionally but doctrinally o\y]^Q.- 
tionable. Though he came to New England, as he says, with a 
disposition to " lay aside all by-respects, to join with the Church 
here," " he could not be satisfied in diverse particulars," and 
" desired to open his mind in some material things of weight 
concerning the Christian faith" wherein he differed from the 
received belief of the Massachusetts churches. He was not long 
in giving to these points of difference more than a sufficient 
prominence. On his passage hither, he had discussed them with 
his fellow-passengers ; and before, or soon after, his arrival, he 
made a written statement of his opinions and the arguments 
by which he sustained them, and placed the paper in the hands 
of Mr. Downing. % These opinions, which he tells us he " did 
not lightly or hastily take up, but upon good grounds and mature 
deliberation, long before he ventured to betake himself into these 
parts of the world," § involved what magistrates and elders held 
to be fundamental errors, and such as prevented his reception to 

* Winthrop, ii. 36. " No judge can be cause of one, before issuing process." 

wise enough to decide always with satis- t Ibid. 

faction to both parties," observes Mr. % Letter to Edmund Browne, Dec. 10, 

Savage, "after privately hearing, and of 1638. yournal, p. 28. 

necessity, as it were, undertaking the § To Hugh Peters, Jan., 1639. Ibid., t^o. 



INTRODUCTION. XXI 

church fellowship. These errors, as stated by Mr. Cotton, were : 
" I. That the Antichrist described in the Revelation was not yet 
come, nor any part of that Prophecy yet fulfilled from the 4th 
chapter to the end. 2. That the Apostolick function was not 
yet ceased : but that there still ought to be such, who should by 
their transcendent Authority govern all churches." * 

Lechford himself conceived that his opinions on these contro- 
verted points "might be held, or not held, salva fide" \ and 
without impediment to church fellowship with those of opposite 
belief Indeed, modern orthodoxy, even of the most rigid type, 
would hardly insist on the identification of the pope of Rome 
with the prophetical antichrist, and a denial of the permanency of 
the apostolic function, as essential pre-requisites to church com- 
munion, or for the elective franchise. But to the elders of the Bay, 
in 1638, — when the churches had not yet escaped the dangers 
of Antinomianism nor been thoroughly purged of all the eighty- 
two errors condemned by the synod of the year previous, — every 
deviation from the established creed was matter of grave impor- 
tance. Moreover, although Lechford professed a disinclination 
to controversy, he certainly took no great pains to avoid it ; so 
that before he had been many weeks in the colony, his peculiar 
views were somewhat widely made known, not only through oral 
discussions, but by means of two or three manuscript volumes 
of his composition, which he had tendered for the perusal of 
some of the jealous guardians of orthodoxy in the churches. 

In the letter to Hugh Peters, before quoted, Lechford writes : 
" I showed you my books : you had not leisure to peruse them. 
I likewise, long before, showed my main book to Mr. Cotton. 
He had not leisure to read it ; and the first draught of that 
Of Prophesie, it lay in his house at least five weeks." Peters had 
too much work before him, in New England and Old, for wasting 
his time over the crude speculations of an honest but narrow- 
minded enthusiast ; and Mr. Cotton was perhaps less zealous in 

* Way of Congr. Churches cleared, pt. t See after, his Propositions to the 

i. p. 71. General Court, June 11, 1639. 



XXII INTRODUCTION. 

heresy-hunting, if not more tolerant of error, than before his own 
narrow escape from the censure of the synod of 1637 ^o^ ^^"^ i"^" 
imputed taint of Hutchinsonianism. If Lechford had gone no 
farther to look for readers and provoke criticism, he might have 
fared better, — might have found a way at last to the fellowship 
of the churches and the favor of magistrates, and have lived and 
died in Massachusetts, in comfortable circumstances and with a 
more favorable opinion of " rigid separations " and " electorie 
ways " than he has expressed in Plain Dealing. But, in an evil 
hour, he sought counsel of the deputy-governor, Thomas Dudley, 
a man whose conscientiousness was as morbid, his vision as 
narrow, and his prejudices as strong, as Lechford's own ; who 
was so jealous for the purity of the faith that he magnified to a 
mountain every mole-hill of error, and saw in the toleration of 
new opinions a " cockatrice's ^%gl' 

" To poison all with heresy and vice." 

"After the court here ended," wrote Lechford to Hugh Peters, 
in January, 1639, "I delivered [my book] Of Prophcsie to Mr. 
Deputy, to advise thereof as a private friend, as a godly man 
and a member of the Church, whether it were fit to be published. 
The next news I had was, that at first dash he accused me of 
heresy, and wrote to Mr. Governor that my book was fitter to 
be burned. ..." 

The court to which Lechford refers was probably the Quarter 
Court held at Boston, Dec. 4th, 1638. On the eleventh of the 
same month, Dudley wrote from Roxbury, to Winthrop : — 

" Sir. Since my cominge home, I have read over Mr. Lechford's 
booke, and finde the fcope thereof to be eiToneous and dangerous, if not 
hereticall, according to my conception — His tenet beinge that the office 
of apofllefliip doth ftill continew and ought foe to doe till Grift's coming, 
and that a Church hath now power to make apoflles as our Saviour 
Crist had when hee was heere. Other things there are, but I pray you 
confider of this, and the infeparable confequences of it : I heare that 
Mr. Cotton and Mr. Rogers know fomethinge of the matter, or man. 



INTRODUCTION. xxiii 

with whome you may if you pleafe conferre : I heare alfo that hee 
favoureth Mr. Lentall* and hath fo exprefl himfelfe fince Mr. Lentall 
was queftyoned by the miniflers : It is eafyer floppinge a breach when 
it begins, then afterwards : wee fawe our error in fufferinge Mrs. Huch- 
infon too longe. I have fent you the booke herewith that in ftead of 
puttinge it to the preffe as hee defireth it may rather be putt into the fire 
as I defire : But I pray you lett him know that I have fent the booke 
to you, that after you have read it (which I think you faid you had not 
yet done) it may be reflored to him. 

" I fuppofe the booke to be rather coppyed out then contryved by Mr. 
Lechford, hee beinge I thinck, not foe good a grecyan and hebritian as 
the author undertakes to be." f 

Either Winthrop's zeal was less lively, or he saw less danger 
in the new heresy and its " inseparable consequences," than his 
colleague. Before the end of the month, Dudley wrote again : — 

" For Mr. Lechford and his booke, you fay nothing, and I have fmce 
heard that the worft opynion in his book (which I thinck I fliall proove 
to be herefy) is taken upp by others. Nowe feeing that this is the way 
Sathan invades us by (viz. new opynions and herefyes) it behooves us 
to be the more vigilant, and to ftirr upp our zeale and ftopp breaches at 
the beginninge, leaft forbearance hurt us as it did before." $ 

Lechford's character appears in a very favorable light in his 
comment on the course pursued by Mr. Dudley. After disavow- 
ing the chief heresy imputed to him, " though indeed my words 
might have been so strained," he adds : — 

" I fpeak according to my light, and dare do no otherwife. If hotly 
[pressed by ?] Mr. Deput}', I impute it to his zeal againll errors : I am 
not angry with him for it. But when I faw feven fhepherds and eight 

* See Plain Dealing, pp. 22, 41, and by Robert Keayne, have been pre- 

notes 78, 144. Mr. Lenthall was " ques- served. 

tioned by the ministers," Dec. 11, 1638, t Proceed. Mass. Hist Soc, 1855-8, pp. 

at a conference (held at the house of 311, 312. 

Capt. Israel Stoughton, in Dorchester), J Dudley to Winthrop, Dec. 29, 1638, 

of which some manuscript notes, taken m /[ Mass. Hist. Coll., vii. iii. 



XXIV INTRODUCTION. 

principal men called out againfl me, as if I were an Affyrian [the allu- 
sion is to Micah, v. 5], I thought there might be fomething in me to be 
reproved, and that it concerned me to look about me. I dealt plainly. 
. . . Thereupon my book was referred to the confideration of the Elders." 

This reference to the elders was the occasion of his addressing 
to Hugh Peters, Jan. 3, 1638-9, the letter from which several 
extracts have already been introduced. In an interview with 
some of the magistrates, he had " intimated a word of [his] other, 
main book," treating of Antichrist and of the millenial kingdom of 
Christ. " They all now press me to produce that. I told them it 
was not ready for their view : I must fair write it, and alter some 
things : yet at length, upon promise that I should have it again 
(for if it be no error, I will not part with it for ;^ioo) I promised 
to let them see it. I have accordingly left it to Mr. Deputy and 
the Governor (who also desired to see it)." This book, with the 
one Of Prophcsie, was to be submitted to an assembly of the 
Elders ; and Lechford writes to request Mr. Peters that he would 
himself be one of the council, " Mr. Ward another, and Mr. Par- 
ker of Newbury ; and that Mr. Norton and Mr. Phillips may 
likewise be called ; " who should " soundly and maturely advise 
and consult of the matter," with "all lawful favour" to the writer. 

I find no subsequent mention of this council, unless it be re- 
ferred to by Mr. Cotton, in the passage already cited (from the 
Way of the Congregational ChnrcJies cleared, pt. i. p. 71), where 
Lechford is said to have been " dealt withall both in conference 
and (according to his desire) in writing." Neither mode of deal- 
ing was effectual to convince him of error, nor would the elders 
admit that his opinions might be held " salva fide!' So he was 
compelled to remain without the church ; and exclusion from 
church fellowship carried with it exclusion from the privileges of 
a freeman, and disqualification for civil ofifice. 

His professional ability was not inconsiderable ; but the field 
for its exercise was restricted. " Kept from all place of prefer- 
ment in the Commonwealth," he was " forced to get his living 
by writing petty things, which scarce found him bread," as he 



INTRODUCTION. xxv 

complained to his friends in England, after two years* residence 
here.* Though his imputed heterodoxy did not prevent his 
occasional employment, by those of sounder faith, as a convey- 
ancer, scrivener, or draughtsman, his receipts for such profes- 
sional services were pitifully small. His Journal contains not 
only the record of every instrument drawn by him while he was 
in this country, but an account of the compensation he received ; 
from which it appears that his professional income, for the two 
years after his arrival, was a little more than ;!^47 ; about ^9 of 
which was in debts remaining unpaid in July, 1640.! 

In June, 1639, when he had been nearly a year in Boston, he 
presented to the General Court certain propositions t for the 
regulation of civil actions, and for the recording of judicial pro- 
ceedings. He had perhaps been encouraged to hope — for he 
states that his propositions were "made upon request" — that 
the Court, notwithstanding his ineligibility to public office, would 
employ his services in the humbler capacity of clerk or public 
notary, and provide for his support by giving him work to do for 
which his studies and experience peculiarly qualified him. His 
application was not successful. " The Court was willing to be- 
stow employment upon me," he writes (in short-hand) in his 
Journal, "but they said to me that tJicy could not do it for fear 
of offending the c/uirches, because of my opinions. Whereupon I 
thought good to propose unto them as followeth : " — 

" Certaine Propoficons to the generall Get, 11. 4. 1639. 
" Whereas I have delivered that Prophefying in the Church is properly, 
and therefore ought to be mainely, of prophetical! fcriptures : and that 
Apoftles, Evangelifts, and Prophets ought to be continued as well and 
as long as Paftors and Teachers or any other the undoubted officers, 
(by vertue of the Inftitution, fo?ne Apofks, fome Prophets, etc.) and that 



* Plain Dealing, 69. fide in debts owing, ^8. 18. 10. Caft, 2 

t " Money received upon my book, as (5) 1640." — Short-hand note in 'your>ial, 

appeareth, ;^38. 8. 5, or thereabout, be- \ Printed in Plain Dealing, pp. 29, 30. 



XXVI INTRODUCTION. 

it is probable there shall come yet a greater Antichrifl then ever hath 
bin, etc. 

1. I doe not refufe Church Communion w'^ any that hold the contrary. 

2. If the Elders upon perufall of my books, and hearing me, will give 

their cenfure and reafons in writing or otherwife againft the 
maigne propofitions in my bookes, if they cannot fatisfy me fo 
farre as to recant, yet I fliall be content to be filent. 

3. If the Elders upon perufall of my bookes, and hearing me, can 

convince me of error, in the maigne propofitions, I fliall be 
ready to retract, yea, to burne my bookes. 

4. If the State and the Elders thinke that the matters I treate on are 

not tanti, or that they are iufl occafion of difturbance, I fhall be 
content they will advife of them 12. moneths or more, w"' filence 
on my parte during that fpace, faving to the Elders and chiefe 
men, provided that I may have imployment to fubfift among 
you, and in the meane while be admitted to the privileges of 
God's houfe ; for that all I write may be held, or not held,yrt'/z'rt! 
fide, as I conceive. W"^ all due fubmiffion to this hono^'^ Co""' 




^^ 



It was in response to this application, probably, that he was 
" dealt withal, according to Ids desire, in writing," as Mr. Cotton 
has mentioned. Whether or not the Court gave favorable con- 
sideration to the proposition by which Lechford engaged him- 
self to refrain from controversy for twelve months, on consid- 
eration of receiving employment, does not appear. But what- 
ever good intentions in his behalf the magistrates, or some of 
them, may have had, were counteracted by his own impru- 
dence. 



INTRODUCTION. xxvii 

In the summer of 1639, he was employed by William Cole* 
and his wife Elizabeth, for the prosecution of an action against 
her brother, Francis Doughty, of Taunton, whom she charged 
with having defrauded her of her marriage -portion and her share 
in their father's estate. To the preparation of this case, Lech- 
ford's Journal and memoranda show that he gave much attention. 
On the trial before a jury, at the quarter court in September, his 
zeal for his clients betrayed him into an indiscretion (to use no 
harsher term) which subjected him to the deserved censure of 
the court, and gave occasion, not wholly displeasing to the ma- 
gistrates perhaps, to prohibit him from the exercise of the profes- 
sion of an advocate, to which, as has already been intimated, he 
does not appear to have had any legitimate title. The order of 
the court is in these words : — 

" Mr. Thomas Lechford, for going to the Jewry & pleading \s^^ them 
out of Court, is debarred from pleading any man's caufe hereafter, un- 
leffe his owne, and admoniflied not to p''fume to meddle beyond what 
hee fhalbee called to by the Courte." f 

Lechford submitted, in a good spirit, to this censure. A few 
days after receiving it, he presented to the General Court a 
petition for pardon, with a frank confession of his fault. Of this 
petition he has preserved a copy, in short-hand. % It is worth 
insertion here, as characteristic of the man. 



* William Cole, who came from Chew- Cole, was living in Farrington, co. Som- 

Magna, co. Somerset, married Elizabeth, erset, in July, 1639. The names of Wil- 

daughter of Francis Doughty, a merchant Ham, John, and Nicholas Cole, appear 

and sometime alderman of the city of among the early inhabitants of Mr. 

Bristol. Mr. Doughty died before 1637, Wheelwright's plantation at Exeter, and 

and while William Cole and his wife were that of William is subscribed to the asso- 

yet in England. Mention of his son, the ciation of Exeter planters, Oct. 4, 1639 

Rev. Francis Doughty, is made in Plain (Hazard, i. 463). 

Dealing, p. 41 (of this edition, p. 91, and t Mass. Col. Records, i. 270. 

note 136). John, a brother of William J Journal, page 117. 



XXVIII INTRODUCTION. 

" To the IIo?i'^'^ the Governor, Council and AJfiJIants of this yurifdiflion 

and to the General Court thereof afjembled, lo. 7. 1639. 
" The humble fupplication or petition of Thomas Lechford, [late of 
Clement's Inn in the County of Middlefex, gent.] * 

" Truely fhowing and aknowledging that he did offend in fpeaking to 
the Jury without leave, in the caufe of William Cole and his wife ; and 
fo much the more inexcufable was this delinquency inafmuch as he 
knew it was not to be done by the law of England. Yet he conceiveth 
it was not Embracery, for that he had no reward fo to doe ; and fome 
extenuation may, he conceiveth, be gathered by one or two feeming 
approbations of the like which he hath obferved in other caufes here. 
Notwithftanding, he is heartily forry for his offence, and acknowledgeth 
the juftice of this Court, and is comforted in this — that he hopeth it 
may doe him good and the example be a benefit to the publick. 
Touching his fpeaking in publick for future time, he fubmitteth to the 
wifdom of the Court ; and for that which is pafl, he came to the Court 
being retained, and it's true flood there at the lower end, next the deputy 
Marflial, attending unto a caufe or two wherein your petitioner was re- 
tained. It was to (how his readinefs to do the countrey any fervice he 
might, as well as to get a little money for himfelf Some fpeeches of 
his, fpecially fome involuntary and of fudden interruptions of fome in 
authoritie f being made, whereof fome might be occafioned by himfelf, 
[being too tartly, as he conceiveth, rebuked and hindered by fome of the 
Court,] X and zeal of fpeaking for his mafters, may feem to offend fuch as 
have not been accuflomed to publique pleadings of advocates. Such ex- 
pre/fions of his and involuntary offences he humbly prayeth may be paffed 
by ; and fuch occafions of pleadings your fuppliant will readily forbear, 
as not being fufificient or inclinable by nature thereunto. And he hopeth 
that this Court and country may upon trial of this petitioner in fome 
other tife find him, as in many things ignoratit, fo teachable and tractable. 

" In the mean while, if your petitioner hath any the leall talent to doe 

* The words included between brack- is doubtful. For the former, I have left 

ets were crossed out on revision. a blank space ; and the latter are printed 

t The characters are so closely crowded in italics. 
together, and rendered so indistinct by | Several words were crossed out here, 

the spreading of the ink on the thin pa- others interlined, and these in turn crossed 

per, that a few words are quite illegible, out ; and the sentence appears to have 

and of two or three others the reading been finally left incomplete. 



INTRODUCTION. xxix 

you any fervice in a way of profitting himfelf [ ] livelihood, he 

defireth it. He is heartily ready, and humbly prayeth the fame, in 
regard of his low and poor eftate, not unknown to fome of your Wor- 
Ihips : Unfeignedly defiring both to live and die with you in the way of 
God's ordinances, wherein your petitioner hopeth in fome good time or 
other fome of the reverend Elders and himfelf may come to a perfect or 
at leafl a fair underftanding of each other, which that we may do is the 
unfeigned daily prayer of your unworthy petitioner, 

" Thomas Lechford." 

His submission was probably accepted by the Court, and he 
was suffered to return to the practice of his profession as an 
attorney, which, under the restrictions imposed upon it, promised 
little improvement of his " low and poor estate." 

In the autumn and winter of 1639, he received some slight 
assistance, in the way of employment, from the magistrates. 
For Mr. Endicott, he had written "The Court booke,* at i6^- a 
sheete, 102 sheetes," and received £6. i6s. some time in June 
or July. In November, after the surrender to Massachusetts of 
the Dover patent, he wrote " For the Country : The writing of 
receipt of the Inhabitants of Dover and Kittery and Oyster 
River into the Protection of this Jurisdiction : The Commission 
to Mr. Bradstreete for those places : The institution and limita- 
tion of the Councell of this Jurisdiction : Another of the same : 
Charta libertatis : The Act of the publique and private tenure of 
land : The division of the Plantation into shires : " for all which 
he received the sum of eleven shillings.^ Not long afterwards, 
he was employed in the more important task of transcribing the 

* I cannot learn that this copy of the of "sheets" with the foHos of the Colony 
" Court Book " has been preserved. It Records, from the first court at Charles- 
was, undoubtedly, a transcript of the town, Aug. 23, 1630, to the end of the 
Colony Records, made for Mr. Endicott's Quarter Court at Boston, June 4, 1639, 
own use or for that of the Salem Quarter making 202 pages (55-256 of the first 
Court. A. C. Goodell, Esq., of Salem, volume of the manuscript Records of the 
to whom I applied in the hope of discov- Governor and Company ; pp. 73-268 of 
ering some trace of this volume, calls my the printed Records), or loi folios, 
attention to the agreement of the number t Journal, p. 139. 



XXX INTRODUCTION. 

" breviat of laws," subsequently adopted, with some amendments, 
as the Body of Liberties.* While engaged in this work, — 
which, in his hands, we may be sure was something more than 
that of mere transcription, — he could not resist the temptation, 
or, as he chose to express it, "he conceived it his duty, in dis- 
charge of his conscience," and "as Amicus ciiricB, with all faith- 
fulness to present" to the Governor and magistrates his objections 
to certain laws proposed to be embodied in the code. 

In May, 1640, in "a paper intended iox the honored John Win- 
throp," he expressed his convictions of the advantages and the 
necessity of submission to the King, and acknowledgment of 
the authority of the Church of England, " if it be but by way of 
advice ;" frankly confessing that for himself he "disclaimed Par- 
ker " and " inclined to Hooker and Jewel as to government." f 
After this paper was drawn, Dudley was elected governor ; and 
it is not likely that Lechford transferred to him the good advice 
prepared for Gov. Winthrop. 

The year during which he had conditionally promised to keep 
silence, "saving to the Elders," on matters of difference between 
himself and the churches, had now expired. He had been 
" seriously dealt withal," and had been indulged in his desire for 
" reasons in writing." % But his hope that " in some good time 
the reverend Elders and himself might come to a perfect, or at 
least a fair understanding," was less and less likely to be real- 
ized. He was becoming more dissatisfied with the condition of 
affairs in New England, both in church and commonwealth. In 
July, 1640, he wrote to England : " I know my friends desire to 
know whether I am yet of any better mind than some of my 
actions about the time of my coming away did show me to be. 
I do profess that I am of this mind and judgment, I thank God : 
that Christians cannot live happily without Bishops, as in Eng- 
land, nor Englishmen without a King. Popular elections indan- 

* See Plain Dealing, p. 27 (this edition, t Plain Dealing, pp. 34-37. 

p. 64, and note 91) and p. 31 (this edition, J See before, p. xxvi.; and Plain Deal- 

72, and note lOi). ing, p. 77. 



INTRODUCTION. xxxi 

ger people with war and a multitude of other inconveniences." * 
Of the people of Massachusetts he says, " I am not of them, in 
church or commonweal. Some bid me be gone : others labor 
with me to stay fearing my return will do their cause wrong ; 
and loth am I to heare of a stay, but am plucking up stakes with 
as much speed as I may, if so be I may be so happy as to arrive 
in Ireland, there at least to follow my old profession," &c. 
" Some silence my letters and will not dispute with me, I think 
either out of distrust of me, or else despaire of their cause ; some 
cry out of nothing but Antichrist and the Man of Sin. . . . But 
few know my full mind in some things of weight whereof I do 
professe I was ignorant and misled in England. You may won- 
der how I am now reformed," &c. 

" I never intended," he writes, " openly to oppose the godly 
here in any thing I thought they mistooke." f If he maintained 
some reserve in the expression of his "full mind in some things," 
he certainly made no secret of his dislike of " electory ways " 
and of Congregationalism, as is evident from the advice which 
he proffered to the governor and magistrates, and from his 
queries propounded to the Elders of Boston, which challenged a 
discussion of the nature and constitution of a church and the 
validity of congregational ordination. J 

That his opinions, and his zeal in advocating them, made him 
obnoxious to the magistrates, as well as to the Elders, is no 
matter of surprise. When the course which had been taken 
with others who had similarly offended is considered ; when it is 
remembered that, not only had teachers of doubtful orthodoxy, 
like Roger Williams and Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchinson, 
been banished from the jurisdiction, but laymen of influence 
and position, like Stoughton and Aspinwall and Coggeshall, 
when suspected of a taint of heresy or " sedition," had been as 
summarily and as severely dealt with, — the leniency shown to 



* Short-hand copy, in Journal, p. 159. t See Plain Dealing, p. 77. 

Comp. Plain Dealing, pp. 68, 69. | Ibid, p. 55. 



xxxii INTRODUCTION. 

Lechford is remarkable. It could hardly have been from motives 
of policy — only his own vanity could have suggested that it 
was from " fear his return would do their cause wrong " — that 
he was suffered to remain so long unmolested. It must rather 
have been owing to a conviction of his honesty, his conscien- 
tiousness, and, possibly, to his lack of influence and the slight 
danger of infection by his teachings. It would not be easy to 
find, in the first fifty years of the history of Massachusetts, 
another instance of so great tolerance of opinions so radically 
opposed as were Lechford's to the views of the founders of the 
colony, and so subversive of the constitution of civil govern- 
ment and of the church polity they sought to establish in New 
England. He was neither a freeman nor a church-member ; 
not even a householder ; in the eye of the law he was merely a 
" transient person," who might be driven away with slight cer- 
emony. His calling made him unwelcome ; his creed, in the 
judgment of others besides Thomas Dudley,* was " erroneous 
and dangerous, if not heretical." He questioned the validity of 
any non-episcopal ordination, and saw, in the exercise by the 
people of the right to elect their own rulers, the root of all evil. 
He would not acknowledge "a church without a bishop," and did 
not hesitate to express his belief that all was going wrong, and 
must go worse, in "a state without a king." In the complacent 
consciousness of his own clearer light and well-grounded convic- 
tions, he felt it to be his duty to point out to Governor Winthrop, 
to Mr, Wilson, and to Mr. Cotton, the errors wherein through 
ignorance they had gone astray, and were misleading others. f 
That he should have been permitted for two years and a half to 
hold his course unchecked, and that his unconcealed and some- 
what aggressive dissent should have so long escaped censure. 



* See before, p. xxii. noted in the margin : " In the number of 

t " O mercy, mercy, from all the pow- the ignorant I hold myself, and Mr. Bur- 

ers of mercy in heaven and earth " — he ton, Mr. Prynne and Dr. Bastwick, and 

wrote in 1640 — " to such as sin of igno- a multitude more." Journal, p. 159 (in 

ranee ! " And against this, he modestly short-hand). 



INTRODUCTION. xxxiii 

proves that the founders of Massachusetts were not incapable 
of the exercise of toleration, even though they might not give it a 
place among the virtues. 

At length, however, their patience was exhausted. In Sep- 
tember, 1640, for a new offence, with which his questioning of 
the Boston elders * may have had something to do, he was pre- 
sented by the grand jury, and summoned before the Court of 
Magistrates in December. When the General Court was in ses- 
sion (Oct. 7), they were " pleased to say something to him, as for 
good counsel about some tenets and disputations which he had 
held ; advising him to bear himself in silence and as became 
him." A few weeks afterwards, he writes in his Journal : " I am 
summoned to appear in court to-morrow, being the first of loth, 
1640. The Lord God direct me, &c." In a letter to England, 
dated Dec. 19, he mentions having been "lately taken at advan- 
tage and brought before the Magistrates, before whom, giving a 
quiet and peaceable answer [he] was dismissed with favour," &c.t 
Of this answer he preserved a copy, or perhaps the original draft, 
in short-hand, in his Journal. An extract from it is printed in a 
note on page 157 of this volume. Confessing that he had "too 
far meddled in some matters of church government and the like, 
which [he was] not sufficient to understand or declare," he threw 
himself on the mercy of the court. His submission was ac- 
cepted, and the record shows that — 

" Mr. Thomas Lechford, acknowledging bee had overfliot himfelfe, 
and is ferry for it, promifmg to attend his calling, and not to meddle 
w*'' controverl'ies, was difmiffed." — Mass. Col. Records, i. 310. 

Mr. Savage, in a note to Winthrop (ii. 36), cites this as a "curi- 
osity in legislative and judicial economy." He was under the 

* See Plain Dealing, p. 55 (this edition, and what rigid reparations may tend un- 

p. 128). to, what is to be feared, in cafe the moft 

t " Our chiefe difference was about the of the people here (hould remaine unbap- 

foundation of the Church and IMiniftery, tized; &c." PL Deal., 77 (this ed. 156-7). 

5 



XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 

impression that the engagement " not to meddle with controver- 
sies " was inconsistent with the promise " to attend his calHng," 
since " the very calhng by which he sought to earn his bread 
was that of an attorney." The inconsistency disappears on 
learning from Lechford himself that he was brought before the 
quarter court on the presentment of a grand jury, and that the 
controversies in which he had "too far meddled" concerned "mat- 
ters of church government and the like," — "the foundation of the 
church and the ministry, and what rigid separations may tend 
unto." He acknowledged his fault, promised amendment, and 
the court dismissed the complaint. Lechford certainly did not 
feel that he had been hardly dealt by. He avers that he was 
" dismissed with favour, and respect promised him by some of 
the chiefe, for the future." * 

Sometime in 1640, he was enrolled in the " Military Company 
of Massachusetts," afterwards the "Ancient and Honorable Artil- 
lery." He perhaps owed his election to his intimacy with Thomas 
Savage, one of the original members of this company, and to the 
friendship of the captain, Robert Keayne. 

Among those with whom Lechford appears to have been on 
very friendly terms, was George Story, " a young merchant of 
London," as Winthrop calls him, who lodged in the house 
of Richard Sherman, and who was the chief instigator of the 
proceedings against Capt. Keayne in the famous " sow case." 
For six or seven years from its commencement in 1636, this 
" great business upon a very small occasion" divided the people 
of Boston into factions, disturbed the peace of the churches, 
had an influence in elections, awakened a "democratical spirit" 
throughout the colony, and at last (in 1643) came near bringing 
about a radical change in the constitution of the General Court, 
by depriving the magistrates of the exercise of a negative voice 
on the action of the house of deputies.! In 1641, the quarrel 
had not yet reached its height, but it had already assumed for- 

* Plain Dealing, 'j'j. f See Winthrop, ii. 69-71, 11 5-1 19. 



INTRODUCTION. xxxv 

midable proportions. That Lechford should become impHcated 
in it, was inevitable. The only attorney in Boston, and the com- 
mon friend of Story and of Keayne, he received the confidences of 
both parties, tried his hand at peace-making, gave advice to both, 
and, of course, offended both ; besides exposing himself to the 
suspicion of wrong-dealing. The trouble which this affair oc- 
casioned him may have contributed to hasten his return to Eng- 
land. About a week before he sailed from Boston, he drew up 
a statement of his connection with the case, for the purpose of 
clearing himself of " divers imputations " of having promoted 
litigation by advice which, " in the simplicity of his heart," he 
had given to Mr. Story and Goody Sherman. This paper is 
dated July 24, 1641. In the first draft (in his Journal), he had 
written : " Being purposed some time at least to visit my na- 
tive " — ; but drew his pen through the unfinished sentence, and 
interlined, in its place : " Now being purposed, God willing, to 
visit my friends in England." In another paragraph, alluding 
to a conversation which he had with Story, " one Lord's day 
when the Sacrament was at Boston," he fixes the time by add- 
ing, " being the next day as I remember after the newes that it 
was supposed Mr. Prynne had sent me money for my passage." 

Mr. Cotton says that Lechford, " when he saw he could 
not defend the Error [that the Apostolick function was not yet 
ceased] but by building again the Bishops, against whom he had 
witnessed (as he said) in soliciting the cause of Mr. Prynne, he 
rather then he would revoke his present tenent, acknowledged he 
was then in an Error when he took part with Mr. Prynne and 
Mr. Burton, and therefore he tvoiild nozv retitrn to England again, 
to reduce those famous witnesses from the Error of their way. 
And accordingly, away he went." * 

On the same day on which he wrote the statement above-men- 
tioned, Lechford made a letter of attorney to Thomas Savage, to 
receive all moneys due him in New England, and all letters 
which should be sent to him, " and the same letters to peruse, 

* Way of Congr. Churches cleared, pt. i. p. yi- 



XXXVI INTRODUCTION. 

and send and return them and the said moneys and debts to him, 
in money or goods and commodities," &c.* 

The last entry in his Journal, before leaving Boston, was made 
on or after July 29. It is a memorandum of his obligation by bond 
(in which Mr. David Offiey was his surety) to Mr. Joshua Hewes 
of Roxbury, to pay ;^8. to " Mr. Joshua Foote at the Cocke in 
Grace church Streete," before Christmas, on a bill or note dated 
July 27. 

On the opposite page are two unimportant entries, of payments 
of money in England, in the discharge of commissions intrusted 
to him before sailing. At the head of this page is the date, 
"Post Mich[aelmas], 17 Car. 1641." 

The vessel in which he took passage from Boston sailed on the 
third of August. We learn from Winthrop (ii. 31), that among 
her forty passengers were John Winthrop, Jr., Hugh Peters, 
Thomas Welde, and William Hibbins, who, " finding no ship 
which was to return right for England, they went to Newfound- 
land, intending to get a passage from thence in the fishing fleet. 
. . . They arrived there in 14 days, but could not go altogether, 
so were forced to divide themselves, and go from several parts 
of the island, as they could get shipping." Lechford mentions 
having " touched, coming homeward," at Newfoundland.! On 
the 1 6th of November, he was once more an inmate of Clement's 
Inn, and had " returned humbly to the Church of England." $ 

From this time, his personal history remains unknown. The 
address "To the Reader" of his book, dated Jan. 17, 1641-2, is 
the last trace of the author which he has left us. All that we 
have to add is comprised in a single sentence by Mr. Cotton : — 

" When he came to England, the Bifhops were falling, fo that he loft 
his friends, and hopes, both in Old England and New : yet put out his 
Book (fuch as it is) and foon after dyed." — JVa_y cleared, pt. i. p. 71. 

* Journal, p. 234. t Plain Dealing, p. 46 (this edition, 109). J Ibid., 68. 



INTRODUCTION. xxxvii 

That the magistrates and ministers of Massachusetts should 
not look with favorable regard upon the book or its author, was 
natural ; but it is not easy to discover good grounds for so severe 
a judgment as that recorded by Mr. Cotton upon " Plaine deal- 
ing, which (in respect of many passages in it) might rather be 
called false and fraudulent." Lechford was not a man of broad 
views, or of great political sagacity. He was tolerably clear- 
sighted, but not far-sighted ; a good observer, but a bad prophet. 
His own reverses had apparently taken from him v/hatever hope- 
fulness he had by nature, and he looked habitually to the darker 
side. Such men cannot lead colonies, or found States. He 
was out of place in New England, and would have been none 
the less so, if he had been as firmly convinced as was Mr. Cot- 
ton of the identity of the Church of Rome with Antichrist. Lit- 
tle as Winthrop or Cotton could foresee of the future of New 
England, — of the ultimate results of the work in which they 
were engaged, — Lechford foresaw less. To his view, prejudiced 
somewhat, no doubt, by the adverse circumstances against which 
he struggled from first to last in Massachusetts, "all was out of 
joint both in Church and Commonwealth ; " * nothing better was 
to be anticipated from popular government than anarchy and 
bloodshed ; from separatism, than a speedy relapse to heathen- 
ism ; and from a disregard of " worthy lawyers of either gown," 
than tardy repentance.f There were, he thought, "some wise 
men" in New England ; but "wiser men than they," if they had 
attempted to set up in a wilderness a " strange government, dif- 
fering from the settled government [in England], might have 
fallen into greater errors." The only hope he saw for the coun- 
try was in the exertion of the king's prerogative, and the exten- 
sion of the authority of the Church. " With some kind of 
subjection or acknowledgment of authority of the Ministry in 
England," then perhaps, " under God and the King," the colony 
might " make Church-work and Common-wealth work indeed, 
and examples to all Countries." % 

* Plain Dealing, p. 71. t Ibid., 2S. t Ibid., pp. 34, 35. 



XXXVIII INTRODUCTION. 

Yet Plain Dealing was not written in an unfriendly spirit. 
" I doe not this, God knoweth," says the author, " as dehghting 
to lay open the infirmities of these well-affected men, many of 
them my friends, — but that it is necessary, at this time," — when 
England was in danger of falling into the same kingless and 
churchless abomination of desolation, — "for the whole church of 
God, and themselves, as I take it." * However prejudiced in his 
judgments, however unwarranted his inferences, in his record 
of facts he is conscientious, painstaking, tolerably exact, and 
almost always reliable. And this it is which gives to his book 
its peculiar value. It is a view of New England, — more parti- 
cularly of Massachusetts, — taken upon the spot by an intelligent 
observer, who, though unsympathising, was not in the main 
unfriendly ; and who, while he certainly did " naught extenuate," 
cannot justly be charged with setting down aught in malice. 
His mistakes are comparatively unimportant ; and the information 
he gives of the state of the country, civil and religious, from 
1638 to 1 64 1, is valuable enough to render his book nearly in- 
dispensable to the study of New-England institutions. 

The Massachusetts Historical Society possesses a manuscript 
copy of a part of Plain Dealing, of which the Hon. James Bow- 
doin, in a note to the Society's reprint of the volume, gave the 
following description : — 

" The MS. was at some former period bound up with others, and was 
probably at that time perfect. It now consists but of twenty-nine pages 
in small 4to. It is obviously ancient, whether we examine the appear- 
ance of the paper, of which the water-marks cannot be distinctly ascer- 
tained, or the color of the ink, or the character of the hand-writing ; 
which last is remarkably fine of its kind. The shorthand, of which 
there are short passages on pages 9, 16, 23, 24, and 27 [corresponding 
with pages 12, 20, 37-38, 39, 41, of the first edition oi Plain Dealing], 
differs from any one that the writer has been able to find ; and he re- 

* Plain Dealing. " To the Reader ; " (this edition) p. 7. 



INTRODUCTION. xxxix 

grets to add, that application to two members of our Society, who are 
accustomed to shorthand of many periods, has ended, Hke his own 
exertions, in an inabihty to furnish a translation of them. . . . That the 
MS. was written prior to the printed copy, seems certain, as well from 
these last considerations, as from the additions and verbal differences 
that distinguish the two copies: — That it was written a/k'r LecMord 
returned to England, is ascertained by its containing the passage, on 
p. 73 [first edition, p. 13], alluding to his having left New England the 
August preceding. . . . 

" The MS. begins with its own page 7, which is page 8 of the Ebeling 
copy [of the first edition], at the words — 'the Elders formerly men- 
tioned. Then the Elder requireth,' &c. It ends with its own page 36, 
being [page 53, line 10, of the first edition], with the word 'perfected.' "* 

Mr. Bowdoin gave reasons for concluding that this MS. "could 
not have been the identical original which Lechford eventually 
enlarged, nor that from which the printer copied;" and that "it 
was probably a duplicate original, made and deposited for secu- 
rity, lest the fruit of his labor should be lost, by fire or other 
accident." The handwriting of the MS. is unmistakably Lech- 
ford's, as a comparison of it with his Journal shows. It certainly 
was not the first draft or sketch of his book : the penmanship is 
too neat, and there are too few of the interlineations or erasures 
which abound on the pages of his Journal. My impression is, 
that the copy of which this is a part was one intended for the 
use of the printer ; but that, on his passage homeward or after 
his return, the author found so much to amend and so much 
new matter to add, that it became necessary to make another 
revised copy, from which the book was printed. The additions 
and alterations, amounting (as Mr. Bowdoin states) to near one- 
half of the whole, were made, in some places, in short-hand, on 
the margins or blank spaces of the manuscript, and afterwards 
incorporated in the text,! or printed as notes. 

In the note referred to, Mr. Bowdoin has given the results of 

* 3 Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 397, 398, 400. t See after, p. 57, note 77. 



XL INTRODUCTION. 

a careful collation of the Society's MS. with the printed volume. 
Of this collation I have made free use in the notes to the present 
edition ; and, relying upon its accuracy, I have cited the manu- 
script as " Mass. Hist. Society's Manuscript," or " M.H.S. MS." 

The system of short-hand which Lechford used was substan- 
tially that taught by John Willis, first published in 1602, and 
very popular in England for thirty or forty years afterwards. 
When the characters are well formed, not too much crowded, 
nor too minute, there is no great difficulty in deciphering 
them. Lechford was so familiar with this system, and so prac- 
tised in its use, that he was not very careful how he wrote it, 
especially in his first drafts ; and when, as on some pages of his 
Journal, he used bad ink on imperfectly-sized paper, it is not easy 
always to distinguish his circles from ellipses, straight lines from 
curves, or dots from dashes. 

A second edition of Plain Dealing — or a re-issue of the 
edition of 1642, with a new title-page — appeared in 1644, as 
New England's Advice to Old England. I have never met with 
this edition, and mention it here only on the authority of Watt 
and Lowndes. 

The copy which I have used while preparing this edition, and 
for the correction of the press, is from the library of George 
Brinley, Esq., of Hartford, to whom I am also indebted for the 
opportunity of consulting several rare tracts cited in the notes. 

J. H. T. 
Hartford, Jan. 8, 1867. 




PLAIN DEALING 

nevVes 



PROM 



New-England. 

(Vivat Rex AnglicB Carolus, 

Vivat Anglia, 
Vivantq^ eorum Aniici omnes.) 

A fhort view of New- England s 

prefent Government, both Ecclefiafticall and Civil, 

compared with the anciently-received and efta- 

blillied Government of England, in 

fome materiall points ; fit for the graveft 

confideration in thefe times. 



By Thomas Lechford of Clements Inne, 
in the County of Middle/ex, Gent. 

Levis eji dolor, qui capcre confiliimi potejl, 

Et clepere fefe ; Magna non latitant mala. Sen. 



LONDON, 

Printed by W. E. and /. G. for Nath: Butter, at the figne of 
the pyde Bull neere S. Aiijlins gate. 1642. 




To THE Reader. 




Vejy man is to approve himfelfe, and anfwer 

to God for his anions his confcience leads him 

to ; and next^ to good men, as much as in hhn 

lyeth. I have thus pre/umed to enter into 

publiqtie, for thefe reafons : 

Firfl, becaufe it is well knowne unto many, that hereto- 
fore I fuffered imprifonment, and a kind of banifhment out 
of this good Land, forfome a^s conflrued to oppofe, and 
as tending to fubvert Epifcopacie, and the felled Ecclefi- 
aflicall government of England : therefore now I defire to 
p2irge my f elf offo great a fcandall ; and wherein I have 
offended, to intreat all 7ny Superiours, and others, to im- 
pute it rather to my ignorance, for the time, then any 
wilfull flubbornneffe. 

Secondly, feeing that fine e my com,ming home, I find that 
multitudes are corrupted with an opinion of the unlawfttl- 
neffe of the Church-government by Diocefan Biffiops, zuhich 
opinion I beleeve is the root of much mif chief e ; having nozu 
had experience of divers governments, I fee not how I could 



To the Reader. 



with faithfuliielfe to God, my King aiid Countrey, be any 
longer Jilent, efpecially conjidering fome of thefe late troubles 
occajioned, among other Jins, I fear, m,tich through this 
evill opinion. Happy | fliall I be, if any be m-ade wifer by 
my harmes ; I wifJi all men to take heed, how they fJiake 
hands with the Church of God, upon any fuch heedleffe 
grounds as I ahnofi had done. 

Thirdly, that I might (though unworthy) in a fit fea- 
fon, acquaint the learned and pious Divines of England 
with thefe 7ny fiender obfervatiofis, qucsres, and experiments, 
to the end they may come the better prepared, tipon any pub- 
lique occafion, for the coiifideration of fuch matters, aitd fo 
at length, thofe good things that are fiiake^z among us may 
be efiablifiied, and truth confirm,ed. 

It is enough for me, being a Student or Practifer at 
Law, faithftilly to put a Cafe, which will be this : Whether 
the Epifcopall Government by Provinciall and Diocefan 
Bifiiops, in number about 26. in England, being, if not of 
abfolute Divine authority, yet nearefi, and mofi like there- 
unto, and mofi anciently here embraced, is fiill fafefi to be 
co7itinued ? 

Or a Presbyterian government, being (as is humbly con- 
ceived) but of humane authority, bringing in a numerous 
company of above 40000. Presbyters to have chief e rule in 
the keyes, in England, be fit to be newly fet 2ip here, a thing 
whereof we have had no experience, and which moderate 



To the Reader. 



wife men think to be lejfe con/onant to the Divine patterne^ 
and may prove m^ore intolerable then the /aid Epifcopacie? 

Or an independent governm,ent of every congregationall 

Church ruling it fel/e, which introduceth not onely one ab- 

folute BiJJtop in every PariJJt, but in effeH/o many men, fo 

many BiJJiops, according to New-Englands rule, which in 

England zvould be Anarchic & confujion? 

I would entreat thofe that Jland for this lajl me^itioned 
manner of government, to be p leafed to consider, 

1. That the very terme of leading, or ruling in the 
Church, attributed to Elders, forbids it ; for if all are 
Rulers, whofJiall be ruled ? 

2. The maine afls of Rule confifl of receiving into the 
Church by Baptifme, or otherwife, aiid eje^ion out of the 
Church by cenfure, binding and loofing ; now thefe are 
committed to the Apoflles, and their fucceffors, and not to 
all the members of the Church. 

3. All have not power to baptize, therefore not to receive 
into the Church, nor to cafl out of the Church. My breth- 
ren, be not many mafters,y^2V/^ .5". lames, 3. i. The words 
of the wife are as goads, and as nayles, faftened by the 
mafters of affemblies, which are given from one Shep- 
heard, Ecclef. 12. 11. 

And whereas fome may fay, that this power of ratling 

is but miniflerially in the officers, and initiatively, conchc- 

fively, and virtually in the people : If fo, zv hat power ordi- 



To the Reader. 



narily have the people to con trad id the minijleriall works 
and afls of their Officers ? Mujl the ivhole Chin^ch try all 
thofe whom their Minijlers convert abroad, fuppofe among 
Indians, before they may baptize them ? How can all the 
C/mrch examine and try fie h ? All have not power, war- 
rant, leifire, pleafure, ability, for, and in fuch works, nor 
can all fpeake Indian langtiage. 

Doubtleffc the afls of rule by the Officers is the rule of 
the whole Church, and fo to be taken ordinarily without 
contradiflion, elfe there would be no end \ of jangling : 
And thus taken, the zuhole Clnn'ch of Corinth, by S. Pauls 
command, (sc. by their Minifiers) were to put azuay that 
wicked perfon, and deliver him tp to Satan, i Cor. 5. 13. 
and refiore him, and forgive him, 2 Cor. 2. and fo all the 
dotibt 071 that Text is (neer I think) refolved. 

Now that the government at New-England feemeth to 
m,ake fo maiiy Church-meanders fo many Bifiops, will be 
plaine by this enfiing Difcotirfe : for you fiall here find, 
that the Churches in the Bay gov erne each by all their mem- 
bers unanimoifly, or elfe by the major part, wherein every 
one hath equall vote and f2iperfpen,io7t with their Minifiers : 
and that in their Covena^tt it is expreffed to be the duty of 
all the meinbers, to watch over one another. And in time 
their Churches will be m,ore corripted then now they are ; 
they cannot (as there is reafon to feare) avoid it pofjibly. 
How can any now deny this to be Anarchic ajid conffion? 



To the Reader. 



Nay^fayfome, we will keep out thofe that have not true 
grace. But how can they certaiitly difceriie that true grace, 
and what fneafure God requireth ? Bejides, by this coiirfe 
they will (it is to be feared) injiead of propagating the Gof. 
pel, fpread heathenifme ; in flead of gaining to the Churchy 
lofe from the Church : for zuhen the major part are unbap- 
tized, as in twenty years tmdotibtedly they will be, by fich a 
courfe cojttinued, what is like to become of it, but that either 
they may goe among their fellow-heathens the Indians, or 
rife tip againfl the Church, and break forth into iuany 
grievotis dijlempers amoiig themf elves ? which God, and the 
King forbid, I pray. 

And that you (coicrteous Reader) may perceive I have 
from time to time dealt cordially in thefe things, by declar- 
ing them impartially to my friends, as I received light, 
I f tail adde in the lafl place certaine paffages out Letters, 
fent by me into England to that piirpofe, and conclude. 

And I doe not this, God knozueth, as delightijig to lay 
open the infirmities of thefe well-affeiled men, many of them 
my friends, but that it is neceffary, at this time, for the 
whole Church of God, and the^nf elves, as I take it : Bcfidcs, 
many of the things are not infirmities, but fuch as I am 
bound to protefi againfi ; yet I acknowledge there are fome 
wife men among them, who zuould help to mend things, if 
they were able, and I hope will do their endeavours. And 
I think that wifer men then they, going into a wilderneffe 



To the Reader. 



to fet up another Jirange governTnent diff'eri7ig from the 
fetled government here, might have falne into greater errors 
then they have done. 

Neither have I the leaji aime to retard or hinder an 
happy and dejired reformation of things amiffe either in 
Church or Common-wealth, but daily and earncflly pray to 
God Almighty, the God of W if dome a7id Counfell, that he 
pleafe fo to direfi his Royall Majefly, and his wife and hon- 
ourable Counfcll, the high Court of Parliament, that they 
may fall upon fo due and f aire a moderation, as may be 
for the glory of God, and the peace and fafety of his Royall 
Majefiy, and all his Majeflies dominions, and good Stib- 
jcfls. Vale. 

Clements Inne, 
Jan. 17. 1 64 1. 

Thomas Lechford. 



A Table of the chiefe Heads 

of this Discourse. 

1. '' I '^Hc Church-government and adnihiijlrations in the Bay 

X of the Mattachufets. Page 2. 

2. Their publique ivorfliip. 16 

3. ToitcJiing tlie government of the Common-zvealth there. 23 

4. Certaine Propofitions to the generall Court, concerning record- 
ing of Civill Caufes. 29 

5. A Paper of the Church her liberties. 31 

6. A Paper intended for the Worf/iipfu II ]o\\n Winthrop, Efqnire, 
late Governonr, touching baptising of thofe they terme without, 
and propagation of the Gofpel to the Infidel Natives. 34 

7. The Miniflers and Magiftrates their names. 37 

8. The flat e of the Countrey in the Bay and thereabouts. 47 

9. A relation concerning the Natives or hidians. 49 
I o. Some late occurrences touching Epifcopacie. 5 3 

1 1. Three Quefiions to the Elders of Bofton, and their Anfwers. 55 

12. A Paper of exceptions to their government. 56 

13. Forty qucBres about planting and governing of Churches, and 
other experiments. 58 

14. An abflrafl of certaine Letters. 6^ 

15. The Conclufion. 78 




OR, 



N E W E S 

FROM 

New-England. 



Aving been forth of my native Coun- 
trey, almoft for the fpace of foure 
yeeres laft pafl/ and now through the 
goodneffe of Almighty God returned, 
many of my friends defiring to know 
of me the manner of governments, and 
flate of things, in the place from whence I came. New 
England ; I thinke good to declare my knowledge in 

I Lechford landed at Bofton, June government," in this volume, are dated 

27, 1638. He failed for England, by from Clement's Inn, Nov. 16, 1641. — 

the way of Newfoundland, Aug. 3, Ms. Journal, p. i; Plahie Dealing, 

1641. His "Quaeres about Church 13,68; WintJirop,\\. ^i. 




12 Plaiiie dealing, 



fuch things, as briefly as I may. I conceive, and hope, 
it may be profitable in thefe times of difquifition. 

2 For the C/iurc/i government, and adminijlratiojts, in the 

Bay of the Mattachufets. 

How Churches 1^ Church is orathered there after this maner : A conve- 

are gathered / % '-' 

there. ± 1. nicnt, or competent number of Chriflians, allowed 

by the generall Court to plant together, at a day prefixed, 
come together, in publique manner, in fome fit place, and 
there confeffe their fins and profeffe their faith, one unto 
another, and being fatisfied of one anothers faith & re- 
pentance, they folemnly enter into a Covenant with God, 
and one an other (which is called their Church Covenant, 
and held by them to conflitute a Church) to this e£fe6t : viz. 

Their Church To forfakc the Devill, and all his workes, and the van- 

Covenant. 

ities of the finfull world, and all their former lufts, and 
corruptions, they have lived and walked in, and to cleave 
unto, and obey the Lord Jefus Chrift, as their onely King 
and Lawgiver, their onely Prieft and Prophet, and to 
walke together with that Church, in the unity of the 
faith, and brotherly love, and to fubmit themfelves one 
unto an other, in all the ordinances of Chrifl, to mutuall 
edification, and comfort, to watch over, and support one 
another. 
Eieaion of their Whcreby they are called the Church of fuch a place. 

Church Officers. •' ■^ r i 

which before they fay were no Church, nor of any Church 



Newes from New-England. 1 3 



tioiis. 



except the invifible : After this, they doe at the fame 
time, or fome other, all being together, ele6l their own 
Officers, as Paftor, Teacher, Elders, Deacons, if they have 
fit men enough to fupply thofe places ; elfe, as many of 
them as they can be provided of 

Then they fet another day for the ordination of their Their oidma- 
faid officers,- and appoint some of themfelves to impofe 
hands upon their officers, which is done in a publique 
day of fafling and prayer. Where there are Minifters, 
or Elders, before,^ they impofe their hands upon the new 
Officers : but where there is none, there fome of their 
chiefefl men, two or three, of good report amongft them, 
though not of the Miniftery, doe, by appointment of the 
faid Church, lay hands upon them/ And after the faid 

2 " Of this they give notice to all indued with able parts of humane and 
the near adjoining churches, ... in- divine learning, that either hath been 
treating their prefence, and brotherly a Minilter in our native countrey, or 
counfell, and affiftance. . . . They give is fit to be one amongft them, who 
notice alfo thereof unto the governor, ufually and frequently preacheth to 
and fuch other of the magiftrates as them after they are united." — T. 
are near to them, that the perfon to Welde, Anfwer to IV. R. his Narra- 
be chofen, meeting with no juft ex- //<?«, (Lond. 4to. 1644,) p. i^. " It is 
ception from any, may find the greater our ufual and conftant courfe (as hath 
incouragement and acceptance from beene faid) not to gather any church, 
all." — Cotton's Way of the Coiigreg. untill they have one amongft theni- 
Churches, 40. Comp. Anfwer of the felves, fit for a Minifter, whom with 
Boflon Elders to Lechford^s Queflio7is, all fpeede they call into Office, and 
p. SS, pofl. account themfelves a lame and im- 

3 " It is a received pra6lise amongft perfed body till that be effetled." — 
us, that when any combine into a Id.^ 55. 
Church, there is one at leaft of them 4 " One of the Elders of the church, 



H 



Plaine dealing, 



ordination, if there are any Elders of other Churches 

prefent, (as of late I have knowne divers have been pref- 

ent, under the names of the Meffengers of the Churches) 

The right hand j-^gy privc tlic ncw Officcrs thc riorht hand of fellowfliip, 

of fellowship by -^ ^ ^ ^ 

meffengers of taking thcm by the right hand, every one feverally, or 
elfe, fometimes, one forraine Elder, in the name of all 
the reft, gives the right hand of fellowfliip, with a fet 
fpeech unto them.^ Notice is given in divers Churches 
or other places, before-hand, of the gathering of every 



(if they have any) if not, one of the 
graver brethren of the church, (ap- 
pointed by themfelves to order the 
work of the day) ... he then, with 
the Presbytery of that church (if they 
have any, if not, two or three others 
of the graveft Chriftians amongft the 
brethren of that church, being de- 
puted by that body) do, in the name 
of the Lord Jefus, ordain him unto 
that office, with impofition of hands," 
&c. — Cotton's Way of the Congreg. 
Churches, 41. Comp. his Keys of the 
KingdoDi of Heaven, &c., 21, 28, ^l- 
See Mr. Gott's account of the ordina- 
tion of Mr. Skelton, at Salem, in 1629, 
in Bradford, 266 ; the Anfwer of the 
Bofion Elders to Lechford, p. SS^pofl; 
Winthrop, i. 31, 96, 1 14, 1 15, 1 16, 180. 
"Some difference there was" about 
the ordination of Rev. Thomas Carter, 
at Woburn, in 1642, — when "fome 
advifed, in regard they had no elder 
of their own, nor any members very 
fit to folemnize fuch an ordinance. 



they would defire fome of the elders 
of the other churches to have per- 
formed it ; but others fuppofing it 
might be an occafion of introducing a 
dejaendency of churches, etc., and fo 
a presbytery, would not allow it." 
{IVinthrop, ii. 91.) A few years later. 
Hooker {Survey, ii. 59) maintained 
that, " though it be moft comely that 
thofe of the fame Congregation fhould 
exercife it [the aft of ordination], yet 
the Elders alfo of other Congrega- 
tions may be invited hereunto ; " and 
the Cambridge Synod of 1649, " faw 
not why impofition of hands might 
not be performed by the elders of 
other churches." — Platforin, c. ix. 
§ 5. Comp. Mag7ialia, b. v. pt. 2.; 
Hijl. Rejnarks, § 5. (fol. p. 42) ; and 
Ratio Difciplittce, 14-42. 

5 "Teftifying their brotlierly accep- 
tance of him, . . . and doth exhort 
him in the Lord, to fulfil the miniftry 
which he hath received of the Lord." 
— Cotton, Way, 42. 



Newes front New-England. 1 5 

Church, divers weeks before ; and fo alfo of every ordi- 
nation. And fome Minifters, or others, as Meffengers 
from other Churches, are ufually prefent at fuch gather- 
ings of Churches, and ordinations : for fometimes, Ma- 
giftrates. Captains, Gentlemen, and other meaner Breth- 
ren, are made meffengers of Churches, for thofe and 
other purpofes, never having had impofition of hands : 
And at planting of a Church, or gather- | ing, as they 4 

tearme it, one of the Church meffengers of forraine 
Churches, examines and tries the men to be moulded 
into a Church, difcerns their faith and repentance, and 
their Covenant being before ready made, written, fub- 
fcribed, and here read and acknowledged, hee decerns^ 
and pronounceth them to be a true Church of Chrifl, 
and gives them the right hand of fellowfliip, and all this 
in the name of Chrift, and of all the Church-meffengers 
prefent, and their Churches : fo did Mafler Weld at the 
founding of Weymouth Church, or to this effe6l7 

6 Decides, determines, adjudges. — unfatisfied with any of thofe that are 
Richard/on. From the Latin, decer- about to enter into cliurch fellowfliip,] 
fieye^ never arrogated to themfelves fuch 

7 " The Churches indeed fend Mef- power, to this day, (nay, they profef- 
fengers (commonly their Elders) to fedly expreffe againft it, conftantly in 
lend them a word of counfell if they fuch meetings) as to forbid their en- 
need, being more experienced in thofe trance into Church eftate. The moft 
ways then (commonly) new beginners they doe (at any time in this cafe) is, 
are, to joyne their prayers with theirs, to defire leave to be faithfull in inter- 
and to give them the right hand of pofmg their counfell, and that only 
fellowfhip. . . . The Meffengers [if when they fee very great caufe : And 



i6 



Plaine dealings 



And the generall Court will not allow of any Church 



otherwife gathered.^ 



Some differ. 



Some Minifters have there heretofore, as I have heard, 
difclaimed the power of their Miniflery received in Eng- 
land, but others among them have not.^ Generally, for 



withall leave them to their Chriftian 
liberty." — Welde, Reply to IV. R., 
34, 35. Comp. Winthrop, i. 183, 184. 
Concerning the " founding of Wey- 
mouth Church," which was regathered 
Jan. 30, 1639, "with approbation of 
the magiflrates and elders," — fee 
Winthrop, i. 287, 288 ; and p. 22, pojl. 

8 See order of March, 1636, Mafs. 
Records, i. 168. 

9 There had been fome differences 
of opinion among the minifters of 
Maflachufetts as to the validity of 
epifcopal ordination, — accordingly as 
they inclined more to non-conformity, 
or feparate congregationalifm; though 
all agreed in holding that "the effence 
of minifters' calling under the Gofpel, 
is the Congregation's confent." The 
" Confeffion and Proteftation of the 
Faith of Certain Chriftians in Eng- 
land," &c. (1616), attributed, though 
queftionably, to Henry Jacob, was ex- 
plicit on thefe points : "We cannot 
but believe it to be fimply unlawful 
and finful, to fetch, receive, yea, or to 
life, a miniftry formerly received from 
the Prelates ;" and "that a minifter, 
fo reputed, without any particular 
flock, is indeed no minifter." {Han- 
biirfs Memorials, i. 296.) So Rob- 



infon {Jtijlif. of Separation, 334,) fays, 
"The judgement ... of the moft for- 
ward men in the Land, in this cafe, I 
may not omit ; which is, that they 
renounce, &= difclayni their ordina- 
tion by the Prelates, and hold their 
Miniftery by the peoples acceptation." 
But while Rev. George PhiUips of 
Watertown (who came over with 
Winthrop,) had declared, that " if 
they will have him ftand minifter by 
that caUing which he received from 
the prelates in England, he will leave 
them," — Mr. Wilfon was conftituted 
teacher of the church at Charlestown 
by impofition of hands, " with this 
proteftation by all, that it was only as 
a fign of eleftion and confirmation, 
not of any intent that Mr. Wilfon 
ftiould renounce his miniftry he re- 
ceived in England." — Fuller's Letter 
to Gov. Bradford, 1 Maff. Hiji. Coll., 
iii. 74 ; Winthrop, i. 32. 

In April, 1637, the minifters who 
met at Concord for the ordination of 
Mr. Bulkley and Mr. Jones, "refolved 
that fuch as had been minifters in 
England were lawful minifters by the 
call of the people, notwithftanding 
their acceptance of the call of the 
bifliops, etc., (for which they humbled 



Neiues from Nezu-England. 



17 



the moft part, they hold the Paftors and Teachers offices 
to be diflind;; the Teacher to minifter a word of knowl- 
edg, the Pafhor a word of wifdome, but fome hold them 
all one ; '° as in the Church of Watertowne, there are two 



themfelves, acknowledging it their 
fin, etc.,) but being come hither, they 
accounted themfelves no minifters, 
until they were called to another 
church." IVinthrop, 217, 218. Mr. 
Lenthall, who was called by the peo- 
ple of Weymouth, " {landing upon his 
miniftery as of the Church of England, 
. . . was compelled to recant fome 
words," (as Lechford tells, p. 22) ; and 
at his examination by the Elders of 
the Bay, in January, 1639, Mr. Cotton 
faid to him that " his former ordina- 
tion, not being given by them that 
had lawful power, and former eleflion, 
will not ferve to make him a minifter 
here, except they [the people of Wey- 
mouth] were in a mutual covenant as 
a church before," &c. {Mf. Notes by 
Robt. Keayne) But when Roger 
Williams cited the admiffion of Mr. 
Cotton " and others moft eminent in 
New England," that, " notwithftand- 
ing their former profeffion of miniftry 
in Old England, yea, in New Eng- 
land," " they were but private Chrif- 
tians, until they received a calling 
from a particular church," {Mr. Cot- 
ton^ s Letter Examined, 1644; Blondy 
Tenent, ch. xxvii.), — Mr. Cotton re- 
plied, that, "being caft out by the 
ufurping power of the prelacy, and 

3 



difmilTed, though againft their wills," 
they did look upon themfelves " as 
private 7>iembers and 7wt officers to 
any church here," until called, &c. ; 
but that any other fenfe given to 
their declaration was either a miftake 
or " a fraudulent expreffton " of their 
minds. — Reply to Mr. Williams'' s 
Anfwer, p. 131. 

Hooker {Survey, ii. 50, 51,) declares 
that the doftrine of an " indelebilis 
chara6ler" imprefted by ordination, 
" comes out of the forge of Popery, 
and is fo befooted with the smoake 
of the bottomleffe pit, and carried 
along in the fogs of the myfteries of 
iniquity, that by a fecret fleight it hath 
eaten infenfibly into the orders of 
Chrijl before the world was aware." 

10 William Rathband, in his " Nar- 
ration of the Opinions and Praftifes 
of the Churches lately erefted in New- 
England" (London, 1644.) aiferted, 
that "whereas, in opinion and tenent 
they precifely diftinguifti between the 
paftor's and teacher's office, yet in 
praftife they ufually confound them : 
both Paftour and Teacher equally 
teaching and equally applying both 
the Word and Scales, without any 
diiTerence." (p. 42.) Thomas Welde, 
in " An Anfwer to W. R. his Narra- 



i8 



Plaine dealings 



Hov/ members 
are received or 
added to the 
Clnuch there. 



Paftors," neither will that Church fend any meffengers to 
any other Church-gathering or ordination. 

When a man or woman commeth to joyne unto the 
Church fo gathered, he or fliee commeth to the Elders in 
private, at one of their houfes, or fome other place ap- 



tion," &c. (printed the fame year, at 
London,) declares this ftatement un- 
true ; " for it is both our profeffed 
judgements and conjlant pra^ice, that 
as the teacher is chofen, whofe proper 
gift is aptneffe to teach, fo after hee 
is chofen, hee bends himfelfe that 
way, and waites upon teaching, fo. the 
Paftor upon exhorting, as Ro7n. 12. 
7, 8. Though in fuch congregations 
where there is but one, hee labours to 
improve his talent both waies, for the 
prefent neceffity, till that defe6l be 
fupplyed : " and citing from Mr. Cot- 
ton's Catechifm, p. 2, " Tlie Paflor's 
worke is to attend upon exhortation ; 
The Teacher on Doftrine," — adds : 
" His owne, and others pra6lifes there 
run accordingly " (p. 57). — Comp. 
Hooker's Survey^ ii. 19, 21 ; Savage, 
Note on Winthrop, i. 31 ; Dexter's 
Congregationalifm, 125. 

There was "a very fharp debate 
anent the office of Doftors," (or 
Teachers,) in the Weftminfler Affem- 
bly,in 1643. The Independents "were 
for the divine inftitution of a Do6lor 
[Teacher] in every congregation, as 
well as a Paftor." The Presbyterians 
were " extremely oppofite : " but a 
final agreement was had on certain 



propofitions "wherein the abfolute 
neceffity of a Do6lor in every congre- 
gation, and his divine inftitution, in 
formal terms, was efchewed, yet where 
two minifters can be had in one con- 
gregation, the one is allowed, accord- 
ing to his gift, to apply himfelf moft 
to teaching, and the other to exhorta- 
tion ; according to the Scriptures." — 
Bay lie's Letters, in Haiibiiry, ii. 217. 

" George Phillips and John 
Knowles. Winthrop (ii. 18), when 
recording, under date of Dec. 9, 1640, 
the ordination of Mr. Knowles, "a 
godly man and a prime fcholar," re- 
marks : "And fo they had now two 
paftors and no teacher, differing from 
the pra6lice of the other churches, as 
alfo they did in their privacy, not giv- 
ing notice thereof to the neighboring 
churches, nor to the magiftrates, as 
the common praftice was." 

A few weeks after Mr. Wilfon's re- 
turn from England, in 1632, the Bof- 
ton Church fought advice from the 
elders and brethren of Plymouth, Sa- 
lem, etc., on the queftion " Whether 
there might be divers paftors in the 
fame church ? " to which the refponfe 
was, " Doubtful." — Winthrop, i. 81. 



Newes from Neiu- England. 1 9 

pointed, upon the weeke dayes, and make knowne their 
defire, to enter into Church-fellowfliip with that Church, 
and then the ruHng Elders, or one of them, require, | or 5 

afke him or her, if he bee wilHng to make known unto 
them the worke of grace upon their foules, or how God 
hath beene deahng with them about their converfion : 
which (at Bojloji) the man declareth ufually ftanding, the 
woman fitting. And if they fatisfie the Elders, and the 
private affembly, (for divers of the Church, both men 
and women, meet there ufually) that they are true be- 

The iifuall 

leevers, that they have beene wounded in their hearts for termes where- 

upon. 

their originall fmne, and a6luall tranfgreffions, and can 
pitch upon fome promife of free grace in the Scripture, 
for the ground of their faith, and that they fiinde their 
hearts drawne to beleeve in Chrifl Jefus, for their jufti- 
fication and falvation, and thefe in the minifterie of the 
Word, reading or conference : and that they know com- 
petently the fumme of Chriftian faith. And fometimes, 
though they be not come to a full affurance of their good 
eftate in Chrift. Then afterwards, in covenient time, in 
the publique affembly of the Church, notice is given by 
one of the ruling Elders, that fuch a man, or woman, by 
name, defireth to enter into Church-fellowfhip with them, 
and therefore if any know any thing, or matter of offence 
againft them, for their unfitneffe to joyne with them, fuch 
are required to bring notice thereof to the Elders ; elfe. 



20 Plaine dealings 



that an}^ who know them, or can fay any thing for their 

fitneffe, be ready to give teftimony thereof, when they 

fliall be called forth before the whole Church. 

6 If there be matter of offence, it is firft heard | before 

Matters of of- thc Eldcrs, and if the party fatisfie them, and the of- 
fence how heard 

in private. fcndcd, in private, for private offences, and promife to 
fatisfie in publique, for publique offences ; then, upon 
another day, one of the ruling Elders calleth forth the 
party, by name, in the publique affembly of the Church, 
and before ftrangers, and whomfoever prefent, moft com- 
monly upon the Lords day, after evening exercifes, and 
fometimes upon a week day, when all the Church have 
notice to be prefent. 

Diiatorie pro- T\\^ party appearing in the midfl of the Affembly, or 

ceedings in ad- x y i i o j 

niitting mem- fomc convcnicnt place, the ruling Elder fpeaketh in this 
manner : Brethren of this congregation, this man, or wo- 
man A. B. hath beene heretofore propounded to you, 
defiring to enter into Church-fellowfhip with us, and we 
have not, fmce that, heard any thing from any of you to 
the contrary, of the parties admittance, but that we may 
goe on to receive him : Therefore now, if any of you 
know any thing againft him, why he may not be admit- 
ted, you may yet fpeak. Then after fome filence he pro- 
ceedeth, Seeing no man fpeaketh to the contrary of his 
admiffion, if any of you know any thing, to fpeak for his 
receiving, we dehre you, give teftimony thereof to the 



N ewes from New-Englmid. 21 



Whether Po- 



Church, as you were alfo formerly defired to be ready 
therewith, and expreffe your felves as briefly as you may, 
and to as good hearing. Whereupon, fometimes, men do 
fpeak to the contrary, in cafe they have not heard of the 
propounding, and fo flay the party for that time alfo, till 
this new offence be heard before the | Elders, fo that 
fometimes there is a fpace of divers moneths between a 
parties firft propounding and receiving ; and fome are fo 
baflifull, as that they choofe rather to goe without the 
Communion, then undergoe such* publique confeffions 
and tryals, but that is held their fault'" pirn Auricular 

-^ confemon, and 

thefe public confeffions be not extremes, and whether fome private Paftorall or Presbyteriall collation, left at liberty, 
upon caufe, and in cafe of trouble of confcience, as in the Church of England is approved, be not better then thofe 
extremes, I leave to the wife and learned to judge. 

But when none fpeaketh to the contrary, then fome Tedimoniais and 

Recommenda- 

one, two, or three, or more of the Brethren fpeak their <io"s- 

12 Comp. Cotton's Way, pp. 53-55. been the Opinion of many that this 

"In this trial," he fays, "we do Czijloiii oi Relations, to be made by 

not exa6l eminent meafure, either of Candidates for AdiniJJlon to the 

knowledge, or holinefs, . . . for we had Church ... is as a Scare-Crow to 

rather ninety-nine hypocrites fhould keep Men out of the Temple; but, it 

perifh through prefumption, than one may be, it has been the Opinion of as 

humble foul belonging to Chrift fhould many, that none but the Defilers of 

finkunder difcouragement or difpair." the Temple would be kept out by 

(p. 58.) Yet Mather {Magnalia, b. v. fuch a Scaj-e-Crow. . . . Well, the 

pt. ii. 43, 44,) commenting upon cer- refult of thefe various Apprehenfions 

tain "difficulties" in the platform of has been this: That fome uiifcriptii- 

difcipline, corroborates Lechford's ral Severities, urged in this matter 

ftatement. " The Jews tell us of by feveral of our Churches, in the be- 

Ni^D. or a Scare-Crow upon the top ginning of the Plantation, are now 

of the Temple, which kept off the generally laid afide," etc. So, In- 

foivls from defiling of it ; and it hath creafe Mather (in the Epiflle prefixed 



2 2 Plaine dealings 



opinions of the party, giving inftances in fome godlineffe 
and good converfation of his, or fome other recommen- 
dation is made, and that they are willing (if the Church 
thereto confent) for their part, to give him the right 
hand of fellowfliip. 

Which done, the Elder turneth his fpeech to the party 
to be admitted, and requireth him, or fometimes afketh 
him, if he be willing to make knowne to the congrega- 
tion the work of grace upon his foule ; and biddeth him, 
as briefly, and audibly, to as good hearing as he can, to 
doe the fame. 
pubiique confef- Thcrcupon the party, if it be a man, fpeaketh him- 

fions of parties 

to be received, fclfc j but if it be 2l woman, her confeffion made before 
the Elders, in private, is moft ufually (in BoJIon church) 

to the Life of Mitchell,) fays, "It a perfon live not in the commiffion of 

cannot be denied . . . that there has any known fin, nor in the negleft of 

been an unjuftifiable Severity in im- any known duty, and can give a rea- 

pofing Cinumjlantials not inftituted, fon of his hope towards God," he is 

whereby fome truly gracious Souls to be judged fit for church-fociety, — 

have been difcouraged from Offering he remarked {Survey^ iii. 6), " This 

themfelves to joyn in Fellowfliip with rule being received and agreed upon, 

fuch Churches. Thus it hath been, it would mervailoufly facilitate the 

when an Oral Declaration of Faith work oi AdiiiiJJlon, without any trou- 

and Repenta7ice has been enjoyned ble, and prevent fuch curious itiqui- 

on all Communicants, and that before fitions and niceties, which the pride 

the whole Congregation; when as and wantonnejfe of inetis fpirits hath 

many an Humble Pious Soul has not brought into the Church, to difturb 

been gifted with fuch Confidence^ — the peace thereof, and to prejudice 

{Magna/ia, b. iv. c. 4. p. 159.) the progreffe of God's Ordinances." 

Mr. Hooker fpoke more pointedly. [Comp. Cambridge Platform, c. xii. 

After laying down the rule, that "if §3.] 



Newes from New-England. 23 

read by the Paftor, who regiiired the fame.'^ At 6^^- 
lem the women fpeake themfelves, for the moft part, in 
the Church ; but of late it is faid, they doe this upon the 
week dayes there, and nothing is done on Sunday, but 8 
their entrance into Covenant. The man in a folemne 
fpeech, fometimes a quarter of an houre long, fliorter or 
longer, declareth the work of grace in his foule, to the 
fame purpofe, as that before the Elders formerly men- 
tioned. 

Then the Elder requireth the party to make profef- "^'^^'^ profeffio.. 
fion of his faith ; which alfo is done either by queftions 
and anfwers, if the party be weake, or elfe in a folemne 
fpeech according to the fumme and tenour of the Chrif- 
tian faith laid downe in the Scriptures, defining faith, 
and fliewing how it is wrought by the Word, and Spirit 
of God, defining a Church to be a company of beleevers 
gathered out of the world, by the Word preached, and 
holy Spirit, and knit together by an holy Covenant, that 
there are in the Church remaining fuch and fuch officers, 

13 " In the churches where we have Anfwer to W. R., 19. " Some, being 
Hved many years, we have feene fuch more weake and fearefull," fays the 
a tender refpeft had to the weaker fame writer (p. 48,) " we rather tender 
fex (who are ufually more fearefull (as Jacob would not overdrive the 
and baflifuU) that we commit their feabler fort of ewes and lambes) left 
triall to the Elders and fome few they fliould mifcarry."—Comp. Hook- 
others in private, who upon their tef- er's Survey, iii. 6 ; Cambr. Platfonn, 
timony are admitted into the Church ch. xii. § 4. 
without any more adoe."— T. Welde, 



24 



Plaine dealing, 



Officers in the and membei's, as aforefaid : That is to fay, Paftors and 

Church. 

Teachers, ruHng Elders, Deacons and Deaconeifes or 

Widowes ; ' ^ and fuch and fuch are their offices and 

„. . , . duties in particular, viz. the Paftor to exhort, and be- 

iheir duties or J^ ' ' 

offices. fides to rule ; the Teacher to inftrudl in knowledge, and 

likewife to rule; the ruling Elder '^ to affifl Paftor and 



14 See, after, p. 15, — "No Church 
there hath a DeaconnefTe, as far as I 
know." Robert Browne {TJie Points 
and Parts of all Dh>inity. Middle- 
burgh, 1582,) names the Widow, as "a 
perfon having office of God to pray 
for the Church, and to vifit and 
minifter to thofe which are afflifted 
and diftreffed in the Church." Dcjin. 
54. {Hauburys Memorials, i. 21.) 
" Their Rehevers, or Widows, muft 
be women of fixty years of age at the 
leaft, for avoiding of inconveniences," 
&c. — True Defcrip. of the Vifible 
Chicrch, 1589. {Ibid. 30.) Comp. J. 
Canne's Necejffltie of Separation, 6. 
Gov. Bradford mentions " one an- 
cient widow ... a Deaconnefs," in liis 
time, in the church at Amfterdam. — 
Dialogue between fome Young Afen, 
&c.. Young's Chron. of Plymouth, 

455- 

Mr. Cotton regarded Widows as 
"fit affiftants to the Deacons, in min- 
iftering to the fick," etc., ..." onely we 
find it fomewhat rare to find a woman 
of fo great an age ... fit to undertake 
fuch a fervice." — Way of the Con- 
greg. Churches, p. 39. Comp. Cambr. 
Platform, c. vii. § 7. — "The Lord 



hath appointed ancient widows, i 
Tim. V. 9, 10, (where they may be 
had,) to minifter" etc. Mr. Daven- 
port {Catechifm ; repr. N. Haven, 53,) 
names four officers of " the fecond 
fort of miniflry : . . . 4. The Deacon, 
. . . under whom is included the wid- 
ow or Deaconefs, who is to attend 
the fick and impotent," &c. 

IS Savage, on Winthrop, i. 31, note 
3. For ample citations of early au- 
thorities, and a hiftory of this office 
from its origin to its decline, and, 
finally, its entire difufe, in Congrega- 
tional churches, fee Rev. Dr. Dex- 
ter's Congregationalifn, pp. 1 10-132. 
" The lateft record on the books of 
the Firft Church in Boflion, of the 
eleftion of a Ruling Elder is believed 
to be of date, Augufl: 3, 1701." — 
Ibid. 131. A few years earlier, 
Jofhua Scottow lamented that, while 
"fome of the Old Planters children" 
remembered " that there were fuch 
men, when they were young, that 
were called Ruling Elders, . . . what 
men they were, or what was their 
work, they profefied they could not 
tell." — Narrat. of the Planting, &c. 
(1694), in 4 Mafs. Hifl. Coll., iv. 329. 



N ewes from New-England. 25 



Teacher in ruling, as the Levites were given to the 
Priefts for helps, and to fee to whomfoever comming in- 
to, or to goe forth of the Church, by admonition,"^ or 
excommunication; the Deacon to receive the contribu- 
tions of the Church, and faithfully to difpofe the fame ; 
the Deaconeffes to fliew mercie with cheerfulneffe, and 
to minifler to the fick and poore brethren; the members Members duties. 
all, to I watch over and fupport one an other in broth- 9 

erly love. 

Notwithflanding, there was a Sermon lately made by a sermon of 
Mafler Cotton in Oflober, Anno 1640. upon i Cor. 11. 19. 
touching herefies, which was fmce commonly there called 
the Sermon of the twelve Articles, wherein was declared, 
that there are twelve Articles of Religion, which main- 
tained by any, the Church may receive them, and keepe 
fellowfliip with them ; but the ignorant '^ of them after 
inflrud;ion and fcandalous fms unrepented, exclude from 
the fellowfliip of the Church. The faid Articles were 
to this effe6l : Firfl, that there are three Perfons in one twelve Articles 

of Religion. 

God, the Father, the Sonne, and the holy Spirit. Sec- 
ondly, that this God made, and governs all the World, 
and that he is a rewarder of the good, and punifher of 
the evill. Thirdly, that this God alone is to be wor- 
fhiped. Fourthly, this worfliip of God is inftituted in 

16 The Mafs. Hift. Society's Ms. 17 The fame Ms. has " ignorance," 

has "admiffion." for "ignorant." 



26 Plaine dealing, 



his written Word, not the precepts of men. Fiftly, 
that from the fall of Adam, we have not fo worfliiped 
God, but have all fmned, and deprived our felves of the 
reward promifed, and therefore are under the curfe by 
nature. Sixthly, that we are by nature utterly unable to 
refcue our felves from this curfe. Seventhly, that Jefus 
Chrift the eternall Sonne of God, in fulneffe of time took 
upon him our nature, and was made flefli for us, and by 
his death and fufferings, redeemed his ele6l from fm, and 
death. Eighthly, that Chrifl Jefus, and falvation by him, 
lo is offered, and given in the | Gofpell, unto every one 
that beleeveth in his name, and onely by fuch received. 
Ninthly, that no man can come unto Chrift, nor beleeve 
on him, except the Father draw him by his Word and 
Spirit. Tenthly, whom the Lord draws to him by his 
Word and Spirit, them he juftifies freely by his grace 
and according to his truth, not by works. Eleventhly, 
where the foule is juftified, it is alfo regenerate and fanc- 
tified. Twelfthly, this regeneration and fan(5lification is 
ftill imperfe6l in this life. And unto all is added this 
generall Article, That fuch as walke after this rule, fliall 
arife to everlafling life; and thofe that walk otherwife, 
fliall arife to everlafting condemnation, in the day of 
Judgement: That the knowledge and beliefe of thefe are 
of the fo7mdation of Religion : But things touching the 
foundation of Churches, as Baptifme, Impofition of hands ; 



Newes from New-England. 



27 



ignorance in thefe may hinder the meafure of our reward 
in heaven, not communion with the Church on earth.'^ 
Exceptions againfl the Apoftles Creed were thefe : That 
it is not of neceffity to beleeve Chrifts defcent into hell 
in any fenfe ; '^ That it is not in that Creed contained, 



18 " Now, in points of do6lrine fome 
are fundamental, without right belief 
whereof a man cannot be faved ; oth- 
ers are circumflantial or lefs principal, 
wherein men may differ in judgment 
without prejudice of falvation on 
either part." Cotton's Anf%ver to 
Arguments againjt Perfeciition^ etc. 
To this diftinftion, Roger Williams 
objefted, believing that " God's peo- 
ple may err from the very fundamen- 
tals of vifible worfhip," and yet be 
faved. Bloudy Tenettt, ch. iv. In 
his Reply {Bl. Tenent IVaJJied, etc., 
p. 5) Mr. Cotton explains, that "fun- 
damental do6lrines are of two forts ; 
fome hold forth the foundation of 
Chriftian religion — others concern 
the foundation of the Church : " and 
that he had fpoken, as above, " of the 
former fort of thefe only — the other 
fort I look at as lefs than principal, 
in comparifon with thefe." — Hans. 
Knolly''s Soc. ed.^ pp. 19, 39. 

19 The controversy on this article 
of belief was "plied hotly in both the 
univerfities, in 1604, and after," when 
Mr. Cotton was at Cambridge. — 
Wood's A thence. Oxon. (ed. Blifs), ii. 
308. Certain fermons preached at 
St. Paul's Crofs, London, in 1597, by 



Bilfon, Bifhop of Winchefter, in which 
the doctrine of Chrift's defcent to 
hell was maintained, had given much 
offence to the Puritans ; and the next 
year Henry Jacob publifhed "A Trea- 
tife of the Sufferings and Vi6tory of 
Chrift, . . . declaring by the Scrip- 
tures . . . That Chrift after his death 
on the Crofs, went not into Hell in his 
Soule ; contrarie to certaine Errours 
in thefe points publickly preached 
in London." (1598, 8vo. pp. 174.) 
" The Effedl of certain Sermons, 
touching the full Redemption of Man- 
kind by the Death and Bloud of 
Chrift Jefus," etc., was printed by 
Bifhop Bilfon, in 1599 (Lond. 4to.), and 
anfwered by Jacob, in " A Defence of 
a Treatife," etc. (1600, 4to. pp. 211.) 
At the fuggeftion of Queen Elizabeth, 
as is ftated, the biftiop prepared a 
more full and elaborate defence of his 
fermons, and of the dodrine in con- 
troverfy, in " The Survey of Chrift's 
Sufferings for Man's Redemption and 
of his Defcent to Hades or Hell," 
etc. (Lond. 1604, fol.) — Wood's 
Athen. Oxon., ut fupra, and ii. 170, 
171, 309; Hanbury's Memorials, i. 
221. Robert Parker publifhed, in re- 
futation of Bilfon, and other affert- 



28 Plaine dealings 



that the Scripture is the onely rule of Gods worfliip ; nor 
doth it fo dire6lly fet forth the point of Juftification. 
Matter Knoih ^ji^ alfo I remember Mafler K^iolles,^" now one of the 

how admitted. 

Paflors at Watertowne, when he firft came to be admitted 
at Bojion, never made any mention in his profeffion of 
faith, of any Officers of the Church in particular, or their 
duties, and yet was received. 
1 1 The party having finiflied his Difcourfes of his con- 

Sfowfllirgivln feffion, and profeffion of his faith, the Elder againe fpeak- 
eth to the congregation: Brethren of the congregation, 
•if what you have heard of, [and] "" from this party, doe 
not satisfie you, as to move you to give him the right 
ha7id of fellowJJiip, ufe your liberty, and declare your 
mindes therein: And then, after fome filence, if none 

The whole cxccpt againfl the parties expreffions, (as often fome 

Church ruleth. . . - . .r-. . . 

members doe) then the Elder proceedeth, faymg. But if 
you are fatisfied with that you have heard of, and from 
him, expreffe your willingneffe, and confent to receive 
him, by your uftialljigne^ which is ere^ion and extention 
of the right hand." 

ers of this doflrine, " De defcenfus Church, Aug. 15, 1639, and was or- 

Domini noftri, Jefu Chrifti ad Inferos, dained at Watertown, Dec. 9, 1640. 

libri quatuor, ab Hugoni Sanfordo — Savage, Geneal. Diil.; Winihrop, 

inchoati, opera R. P. ad umbilicum ii. 18. 

perducti." (Amft. i6ii,4to.) 21 The conjundlion is inferted on 

20 Rev. John Knowles had been a the authority of the M. H. S. Ms. 

fellow of Catharine Hall, Cambridge. 22 See after, p. 12, and note 25 ; p. 

He was admitted to the Bofton 14, note y]. 



Newes fro}n New-England. 29 

This done, fometimes they proceede to admit more 
members, all after the fame manner, for the mofl part, 
two, three, foure, or five, or more together, as they have 
time, fpending fometimes almofl a whole afternoone 
therein. And then the Elder calleth all them, that are Their enterance 

into Covenant. 

to be admitted, by name, and rehearfeth the covenant, on 
their parts, to them, which they publiquely fay,"^ they doe 
promife, by the helpe of God, to performe : And then 
the Elder, in the name of the Church, promifeth the 
Churches part of the covenant, to the new admitted mem- 
bers. So they are received, or admitted. 

Then they may receive the Sacrament of the Lords 
fupper with them, and their children bee baptized, but 
not before : alfo till then they may not be free men of the 
Common-wealth, but being received in the Church they 
may. 

Sometimes the Mafler is admitted, and not the fervant, 12 
& e contra: the husband is received, and not the wife; f^n""^ 
and on the contrary, the child, and not the parent. 

Alfo all matters of publique offence are heard & deter- ^j^^^^"J ^"2. 
mined in publique, before all the Church, (and Grangers ''^"^• 

23 Mr. Welde (Anfwer to W. R., a Covenant agreed to by their fdence 

24) writes : " He [Rathband] tells o^ily : and as it is contrary to our 

us, We hold our Church Covenant practife, fo to our writing, in the Dif- 

viujl be vocall. . . . It's contrary (wee cour/e of the Covenant, which exprelT- 

are fare) to our conftant pradife, that ly faith, that filent confent is fuffi- 

admits members into the Church by cienty 



30 



Plaine dealing. 



The whole 
Church ruling 
and ufurping the 

keyes. 

* Whether a 
grave and ju- 
dicious confifto- 
rie of the Bifhop 
well aflifted be 
not a great deale 
better, I leave to 
our fuperiours to 
determine. 



too in Bofton,^^ not fo in other places.) The party is 
called forth, and the matter declared and teftified by two 
witneffes ; then he is put to anfwer: Which finiflied, one 
of the ruling Elders afketh the ^congregation if they are 
fatisfied with the parties expreffions ? If they are, he 
requireth them to ufe their liberty, and declare their fatif- 
fiedneffe ; If not, and that they hold the party worthy of 
admonition or excommunication, that they witneffe their 
affent thereto by their filence.^^ If they be filent, the 
fentence is denounced. If it be for defaults in erroneous 
opinions onely, the Teacher, they fay, is to denounce 



24 " Some of our moft populous 
Churches do no Church Aft, no not 
of difciph'ne, but in the prefence of 
the whole Towne, (non-members, as 
well as members) fo many of them 
as are pleafed to be prefent. Wayes 
of truth feeke no corners ; if any 
Church admonifh a brother privately, 
it is becaufe his offence is not known 
to non-members." — Cotton, Way 
cleared, pt. i. p. 68. 

25 " The whole Church may be faid 
to bind and loofe, in that the Breth- 
ren confent and concurre with the El- 
ders, both before the Cenfure, in dif- 
cerning it to be jult and equall, and 
in declaring their difcernment, by lift- 
ing up of their hands, or by filence," 
etc. — Cotton, Keyes, 14. " The con- 
fent of the people gives a caufall ver- 
tue to the compleating of the fen- 
tence of excommunication." — Hook- 



er, Pref. to Survey. " Its granted 
by Divines, there can be no proceed- 
ing to excomtmtnication, but with the 
tacit e co7ifent of the people.'''' — Sur- 
vey, pt. i. p. 135. Comp. Cotton, 
Way, 92 ; Cambr. Platform, c. x. 

§§ 5> % 10- 

A memorial prefented to the court 
at Ipfwich, by certain members of 
the Newbury Church, in 1669, fays : 
" Near thirty years fmce, at a fynod 
at Cambridge, it was propofed, and 
it was confented unto by them, that 
if the minifters thought it moft con- 
venient to vote by fpeech and filence, 
rather than by lifting up the hand, 
they had nothing againft it, feeing the 
one was a teftimony of confent as well 
as the other, fo this kind of voting 
began and continued in praftice with- 
out difference or interruption for a 
good feafon." — Coffin's Newbury, 78. 



Newes from New-England. 



31 



the fentence ; If for matter of ill manners, the Paflor de- "^^'^o denounce 

Church cenfures. 

nounceth it ; the ruling Elders doe not ufually denounce 
any fentence :^^ But I have heard, a Captaine"'' delivered 
one to Satan, in the Church at Dorchejier, in the abfence 
of their Minifter. 

Ordinarily, matter of offence is to be brought to the Dk Eccu/ta;. 
Elders in private, they may not otherwife lell the *CImrch * This agreeth 
m ordmary matters, and lo it hath been declared m pub- E„^/and. 
lique, by the Paftors^^ of Bojloji.""^ 

The admoniflied muft, in good manners, abftain from Admonition. 
the Communion, and muft goe on to fatisfie the Church, 
elfe Excommunication follows. 



26 To the contrary, Hooker {Sur- 
vey, iii. 38,) lays down the rule, that, 
after the affent of the Church has 
been given, " the fentence, thus com- 
pleatly iffued, is to be folemnly paffed 
and pronounced upon the Delinquent, 
by the ruling Elder, whether it be the 
cenfure of admonition or excotnniuni- 
cation.'" Cotton {Keyes, 22) does not 
difcriminate, but gives to "the El- 
ders" authority "bothy«j dicere, and 
fententiam ferreP So, the Cam- 
bridge Platform, c. vii. § 2, includ- 
ed with thofe a6ls of fpiritual rule in 
which the Ruling Elders are to join 
with the Paftor and Teacher, that of 
pronouncing fentence. Comp. Cot- 
ton's Way, 91, 92. Winthrop, in his 
mention of Mrs. Hutchinfon's excom- 
munication, fays that "it being for 



manifeft evil in matters of converfa- 
tion . . . the fentence was denounced 
by the paftor [Mr. Wilfon], matter of 
manners belonging properly to his 
place:' (i. 258.) 

27 Whofe name, " Ifrael S tough- 
ton," is given in the Maflachufetts 
Hiftorical Society's Ms. 

28 " Paftor." — Ma/s. Hijl. Soc. Ms. 

29 . . . " The brother firft offended 
telleth the church of it, to wit, in 
God's way : he telleth the elders, who 
are the mouth of the church," etc. — 
Cotton, Way, 90. " When there be 
Elders in a Church, all the complaints 
mujl be made to them, and the caufes 
prepared and cleared, and then by 
their means they muft be complained 
of to the Church." — Hooker, Survey, 
i. 134, 135 ; fo iii. 36. 



32 



Plaine dealings 



13 

Excommunica- 
tion. 



The excommunicate is held as an Heathen and Publi- 
can : Yet it hath been declared at Bojlon in divers cafes, 
that children may eate with their parents excommuni- 
cate; 3° that an eledted Magiftrate excommunicate may 
hold his place, but better another were chofen ; ^^ that an 



30 Such a declaration had been 
made by Mr. Wilfon, after the ex- 
communication of Mrs. Hutchinfon : 
"In the general, he faid indeed, that 
with excommunicate perfons no re- 
ligious communion is to be held, 
nor any civil familiar connexion, as 
fitting at table. But . . . fuch as were 
joined in natural or civil near rela- 
tions, as parents and children, huf- 
band and wife, &c., God did allow 
them that liberty, which he denies to 
others." — Cotton's letter to Fras. 
Hutchinfon, in 2 Mafs. Hijl. Coll. x. 
186. Comp. Cotton, Way, 93, 94 ; 
Hooker, Survey, iii. 39 ; Cavibr. Plat- 
form, c. xiv. § 5 ; S. Mather, Apol- 
ogy, 108. 

31 " Excommunication . . . toucheth 
not princes or magiftrates in refpefl 
of their civil dignity or authority." — 
Catnbr. Platform, c. xiv. § 6. 

No civil difabilities followed ex- 
communication except difqualification 
for admiffion as a freeman. In Eng- 
land, even fo late as the 53d of George 
III. (1813) the excommunicate was 
debarred from ferving as a juryman, 
from bringing or maintaining aftions, 
from appearing as a witnefs in any 
caufe, from praflifmg as an attorney 



in any court ; and from doing any a6l 
" that is required to be done by one 
that is probus et legalis homo.'''' The 
excommunicate was moreover liable, 
after forty days, to be taken on writ 
de excommicnicato capiendo (ilTued on 
the bifhop's certificate), and to be 
imprifoned in the county jail, till he 
fhould be reconciled to the church. 
— Blackftone, Comment, iii. 102. 

For a fingle year MafTachufetts had 
a law that any perfon who fhould 
" ftand excommunicate for the fpace 
of fix months, without labouring what 
in him or her lyeth to bee reftored," 
fhould be prefented to the Court of 
Affiiftants, and proceeded with "by 
fine, imprifonment, banifhment, or 
further, for the good behaviour, as 
their contempt and obftinacy, upon 
full hearing, fhall deferve." — Mafs. 
Rec., i. 242. This law was enabled 
in September, 1638, and repealed 
September, 1639. — Ibid. 271. 

Roger Williams (in The Bloudy 
Tenent, c. cxxviii.) mentions this 
"ftrange law in New England for- 
merly," by way of explaining a fup- 
pofed reference to it in " A Model of 
Church and Civil Power," &c., the 
authorfhip of which he miftakenly af- 



Newes from New-Engla7id. 



33 



hereditary Magiftrate, though excommunicate, is to be 
obeyed ftill in civill things ; that the excommunicate 
perfon may come and heare the Word, and be prefent 
at Prayer, fo that he give not pubHque offence, by tak- 
ing up an eminent place in the Affembly : But at 
New-have7i^ alias Quinapeag, where Mafter Davenport is 
Paflor, the excommunicate is held out of the meeting, at 
the doore, if he will heare, in froft, fnow, and raine.^^ 



cribed to Mr. Cotton (fee Bloody 
Tenent waj/ied, etc., pp. 150, 192): 
" To give liberty to Magiflrates, with- 
out exception, to punifh all excom- 
municate perfons within fo many 
months, may " (fay the writers of the 
Model) "prove injurious to the per- 
fon who needs, to the church who 
may defire, and to God who calls for 
longer indulgence from them." Mr. 
Cotton's opinions on this fubjedl may 
be found in his Expofition upon Rev- 
elation, c. xiii. (delivered, January - 
April, 1640) : " It was a matter in 
queftion here not long agoe, whether 
the Court fhould not take a courfe 
to punifh fuch perfons as flood ex- 
communicate out of the Church, if 
they fhould ftand long excommuni- 
cate, but it was a good providence of 
God that fuch a thing was prevented : 
Let not any Court, ipfo fa^o, take 
things from the Church." (p. 19.) 
Again, "It is dangerous to bring in 
civill Authority immediately upon 
Church-cenfure : A warning to us 

5 



here, that if men be excommunicated, 
not to deny them civill Commerce, or 
to fay fuch as ftand out excommuni- 
cated fo long, (hall no longer enjoy 
the priviledges of the State." [Ibid., 
p. 238.) 

32 On this. Dr. Bacon (in Hijlorical 
Di/courfes, 48) remarks : " Lechford 
was probably lawyer enough to know 
that the fame rule obtained in the 
Church of England, and that the ex- 
communicate, befides being excluded 
from the place of worfhip, was liable 
to a penalty every Sunday for his con- 
ftrained abfence. Good old Oliver 
Heywood found that this was no dead 
letter. Heywood' s Works, i. 100." — 
See the Ads of i Eliz., c. 2 ; 23 Eliz., 
c. I (impofmg fines on every abfentee 
from the parifh church); and 7 Jac. I. 
c. 6; Blackjlone'' s Comment., iv. 52. 
One of the fchifmatical tenets for 
maintaining which feveral non-con- 
formifts of Northamptonfhire were 
called to anfwer Laud's Ecclefiastical 
Commiffiioners, in 1634, was, " that 



Plaine dealing. 



Moft an-end, in the Bay, they ufe good moderation, and 
forbearance in their cenfures : Yet I have known a Gen- 
tlewoman excommunicate, for fome indifcreet words, with 
fome flifneffe maintained, faying, A brother, and others, 
fhe feared, did confpire to arbitrate the price of Joyners 
worke of a chamber too high, and endeavouring to bring 
the fame into civill cognizance, not proceeding to take 
two or three to convince the party, and fo to tell the 
Church, (though fhee firft told the party of it) and this 
without her husband. I feare flie is not yet abfolved ; I 
am fure fhe was not upon the third of Augufl laft, when 
we loofed from Bqfton. 
Cognizance of Thcrc hath been fome difference about iurifdidlions, or 

caufes. •' 

cognizance of caufes : Some have held, that in caufes be- 
tweene brethren of the Church, the matter fhould be 

perfons excommunicated by the ordi- leper, and explained how "the leper 

nary, might come to church." — Cal- under the law anfwered the ftate of 

endar of Brit. Stale Papers, i62,4.-T,Si ^"^ excommunicated perfon now." — 

p. 411. N. H. Chtirch Rec, in Bacon's Hijl. 

In 1644, Henry Glover, who had Difcourfes, 307-309. See, too, the 

been excommunicated by the Church reference to Mrs. Eaton's cafe, in 

of New Haven, expreffed a defire to Trial of Ezek. Cheever, Coll. Co}i7i. 

be reftored. " The brethren agreed Hijlor. Society, i. 29, 44. 

that he fhould have liberty to fpeak The church at Bofton did not de- 

in the afternoon," when, after the bar the excommunicate from entrance 

contribution was ended, "the ruling into the aflembly, "in time of preach- 

elder defired fotne thatjlood near the ing the Word, or Prayer, or fuch 

door, to call in Henry Glover." Mr. other worfhip of God as is not pe- 

Davenport then addreffed him, telling culiar to the church ; for this liberty 

him of the law in Leviticus xiii. and we do not forbid to Heathens and In- 

xiv., concerning the cleanfmg of the dians." — Cotton's Way, 93. 



Newes from New-Engla7id. 



35 



firfl told the | Church, before they goe to the civill Mag- 
iftrate, becaufe all caufes in difference doe amount, one 
way or other, to a matter of offence ; and that all crimi- 
nall matters concerning Church members, fliould be firft 
heard by the Church. But thefe opinionifls are held, by 
the wifer fort, not to know the dangerous iffues and con- 
fequences of fuch tenets." The Magiftrates, and Church- 
leaders, labour for a jufl and equall correfpondence in 
jurifdiclions, not to intrench one on the other, neither 
the civill Magiftrates to be exempt from Ecclefiafticall 
cenfure, nor the Minifters from Civill : ^'^ & whether Ec- 



H 



33 Anthony Stoddard, one of the 
conftables of Boflon in 1641, was one 
of thefe " opinionifts," as appears 
from IVinthrop, ii. 39, 40. When re- 
quired by Gov. Bellingham to take in 
cuftody Francis Hutchinfon, he "faid 
withal to the governour, Sir, I came 
to obferve what you did, that if you 
fhould proceed with a brother other- 
wife than you ought, / might deal 
with you in a church 'way;'''' and 
having been committed, for this "in- 
folent behavior,'' he admitted his er- 
ror, "which was that he did conceive 
that the magiftrate ought not to deal 
with a member of the church before 
the church had proceeded with him." 

34 The General Court, Sept. 1639, 
propofmg to take meafures for the 
"prefent reformation of immoderate 
great fleeves, and fome other fuper- 
fluities" of apparel, found "that fome 



[had] been grieved that fuch excelTes 
were prefented to the Court, which 
concerned the members of churches, 
before the parties had been dealt with 
at home," etc.; and thereupon, all 
proceedings upon fuch prefentments 
were fl:ayed, " in expectation that the 
officers and members of all the 
churches, having now clear knowl- 
edge . . . will fpeedily and etTeftually 
proceed againft all offenders in this 
kind, and . . . keep the more Itricl 
watch ... for time to come." — Mafs. 
Rec, i. 274. 

In Otlober, 1640, the elders re- 
newed a motion which had been 
made at a previous Court, " that the 
churches might know their power 
and the civil magiftrate his. The 
fame had been moved by the magif- 
trates formerly, and now at this Court 
they prefented a writing to that effe6l, 



36 



Plaine dealings 



Churches inde- 
pendent. 



clefiafticall, or Civill power firft begin to lay hold of a 
man, the fame to proceed, not barring the other to inter- 
meddle. 

Every Church hath power of government in, and by 
it felfe ; and no Church, or Officers, have power over one 
another but by way of advice or counfaile, voluntarily 
given or befought,^^ faving that the generall Court, now 



to be confidered by the Court, where- 
in they declared that the civil magif- 
trate fhould not proceed againft a 
church member before the church 
had dealt with him, with fome other 
reftraints which the Court did not 
allow of. So the matter was referred 
to further confideration, and it ap- 
peared indeed that divers of the el- 
ders did not agree in thofe points." 
— Winthrop, ii. i6, 17. 

The hiftory of this movement, and 
its influence in fhaping and in fecuring 
the adoption of the " Body of Liber- 
ties," of 1641, deferve more thorough 
examination than they appear hith- 
erto to have received from hiflorians. 
No more difficult problem was pre- 
fented to the founders of Maffachu- 
fetts, than that of defining the limits 
of jurifditlion between the civil ma- 
giftracy and the churches. " It is 
neceffary," taught Mr. Cotton, at one 
of his weekly leftures, early in 1640, 
(after the body of laws, drawn up by 
a committee of the General Court had 
been fent to the elders and freemen 
of the feveral towns, for their confid- 



eration,) " It is neceffary . . . that all 
power that is on earth be limited, 
church -power or other. ... It is 
counted a matter of clanger to the 
State to limit Prerogatives ; but it is 
a further danger, not to have them 
limited : They will be like a Tempefl, 
if they be not limited. ... It is there- 
fore fit for every man to be ftudious 
of the bounds which the Lord hath 
fet : and for the People, in whom fun- 
damentally all power lyes, to give 
as much power as God in his word 
gives to men : And it is meet that 
Magiftrates in the Common-wealth, 
and fo Officers in Churches fhould 
defire to know the utmoft bounds of 
their own power, and it is fafe for 
both ; " etc. — Expos, ofi-^ih Chap, of 
Revelation, 72. 

" A Declaration of the Liberties 
the Lord Jefus hath given to the 
Churches," (comprifing eleven arti- 
cles,) was incorporated in the Body 
of Liberties eftablifhed in 1641, — for 
which fee 3 Ma/s. Hijl. Coll., viii. 234. 

35 " All particular Churches and 
all the Elders of them are of equal 



Newes from New-England. 



37 



and then, over-rule fome Church matters : and of late, 
divers of the Minifterie have had fet meetings to order 
Church matters ; whereby it is conceived they bend 
towards Presbyterian rule.^^ 



power, each of them refpectively in 
their own Congregation. None of 
them call others Rabbies, or Mafters, 
or Fathers (in refpedl of any authori- 
tie over them) but all of them own 
and acknowledge one another as fel- 
low brethren, Matth. 23. 8, 9, 10." — 
Cotton, Keyes, p. 37. Comp. Way 
cleared, ii. 20, 21 ; Hooker, Survey, 
i. 219, 220; Cambr. Platform, c. xv. 

§1- 

" Beware of all fecular power, and 
Lordly power ; of fuch vaft infpec- 
tion of one church over another : . . . 
Leave everj' church Independent ; 
not Independent from brotherly conn- 
fell j God forbid that we (hould refufe 
that; but when it comes to poiuer, 
that one Church fhall have power 
over the reft, then look for a Beaft 
[Revel, xiii. 2], which the Lord would 
have all his people to abhor." — Cot- 
ton, Expos, of Revel, xiii. 30, 31. 

" At all times, when a particular 
church fhall wander out of the way, 
(whether out of the way of truth, or 
of peace) the community of churches 
may by no means be excufed from 
reforming them again into their right 
way." — Cotton, Keyes, 59. 

36 The laft three lines of this para- 
graph, beginning "and of late," etc., 
are not in the M. H. S. Ms. — The 



" fet meetings " of the miniflers had, 
from the firft, given offence to fome 
who held to the abfolute indepen- 
dence of the churches. In 1633, 
when "the minifters in the Bay and 
Sagus [Lynn] did meet, once a fort- 
night, at one of their houfes by courfe, 
when fome queftion of moment was 
debated," — the Salem paflor, Mr. 
Skelton, a rigid feparatift, and Roger 
Williams (then lately returned from 
Plymouth, and " exercifing by way of 
prophecy" at Salem, though not in 
church-office), " took fome exception" 
to thefe meetings, "as fearing it might 
grow in time to a presbytery or fu- 
perintendency to the prejudice of the 
Churches' liberties." — IVintlirop, i. 
1 16, 117. " Mr. Williams [before his 
banifhment] had fome fellowfhip with 
us," faid Mr. Cotton {IVay cleared, 
i. 55), "and might have had more, but 
that hee fufpecled all the Statos con- 
ventus of the Elders to bee unwar- 
rantable, and fuch as might in time 
make way to a Presbyteriall govern- 
ment." 

The " Model of Church and Civil 
Power," drawn up about 1635, and 
which appears to have had the appro- 
val of Mr. Cotton (fee before, p. 13, 
note 31), propofes, "as the means ap- 
pointed by God whereby he may me- 



38 



Plaine dealings 



Difference of 
rule in Churches. 



In Bojlon, they rule, moft an-end, by unanimous con- 
fent, if they can, both in admiffions, and cenfures, and 
other things. In Salem, they rule by the major part of 
the Church : You that are fo minded hold up your hands ; 
you that are otherwife minded, hold up yours.^'' 



diately reform matters amifs in our 
churches," meetings, "i. Monthly of 
feme of the elders and fnejfengers of 
the churches . . . which are neareft 
together, and fo may moft convenient- 
ly affemble together ; . . . [who may] 
confult of fuch things as make for the 
good of the churches. ... 2. Annual, 
of all the mejfengers and elders of 
the churches . . . fometimes at one 
church, fometimes at another, ... [to 
which] let all the churches fend their 
weighty queftions and cafes, fix weeks 
or a month before the fet time." 
Thefe affemblies, monthly and annu- 
al, were to " do nothing by authority, 
but only by counfel." — Blotidy Teu- 
ciit, ch. cxxix. S^Hans. Kiiollys Soc, 
1848, pp. 334-6]. In this plan, Ro- 
ger Williams found " a moft four and 
uncomely deformed look of a mere 
human invention," and denies that 
" general arguments from the plaufi- 
ble pretence of Chriftian fellowfliip, 
God's glory, &c., prove fuch particu- 
lar ways of glorifying God, without 
fome precept or precedent of fuch a 
kind." — Ibid. c. cxxx-cxxxiv. 

The 7th Article of the Declaration 
of Liberties of the Churches, adopted 
with the Body of Liberties in Decem- 



ber, 1 64 1, as the fundamental law of 
the colony, fecures to the Elders " free 
libertie to meete monthly, quarterly, 
or otherwife, in convenient numbers 
and places, for conferences and con- 
fultations about Chriftian and Church 
queftions and occafions." And the 
nth Article allows and ratifies "as 
a lawfull libertie of the Churches," 
monthly meetings of the elders and 
any other of the brethren, of neigh- 
bouring churches, for " publique 
Chriftian Conference about the dif- 
cuffing and refolveing of . . . doubts 
and cafes of confcience concerning 
matter of do6lrine or worftiip," . . . 
but " onely by way of brotherly con- 
ference and confultations." {Body of 
Liberties, 95 (7, 11); 3 Ma/s. Hijl. 
Coll., viii. 234, 235.) The Synod at 
Cambridge, in June, 1643, agreed, 
" That Confociation of churches, in 
way of more general meetings, year- 
ly ; and more privately, monthly, or 
quarterly ; as coit/iiltative Synods ; 
are very comfortable, and neceffary for 
the peace and good of the churches." 
— Letter from N. E., quoted in Re- 
ply of Two Brethren to A. S. (Lond. 
1644), p. 7. See H anbury, ii. 343. 
37 See before, p. 1 1, and p. 12, note 



Newes from New-England. 



39 



In Bojlon, when they cannot agree in a matter, they A°bft^e°7confia 
will fometimes referre it to fome feled; brethren | to 15 



25. " Whether matters be carried 
amongft them by moft voices or no, is 
not fo generally agreed upon. Some 
affirme that the major part carries it 
againft the lelTer part, yea, though the 
officers be in this lefler part, and to 
fliew ftrong reafon to the contrary . . . 
Otliers, that the whole body muft 
agree, elfe nothing proceeds. . . Some, 
that things are not carried by voyces 
at all, but by truth and right, and ac- 
cording to God. . . . Sometimes they 
grant indeed all things are carried by 
confent of all ; but they explain it 
thus, viz. ... If the lelTer party dif- 
fenting neither can give fatisfacftion 
to the greater, nor will receive fatif- 
fa6lion from them, but ftill perfift in 
diffenting, then doe the major part 
(after due forbearance, and calling in 
the counfel of fome neighbouring 
churches) judicially admonifh them ; 
who being thus under ceii/i(?-e, their 
voyce is now extinft, and made voide. 
And fo the reft proceed to vote," etc. 
— [W. Rathband's] Brief Narratioti 
offoine Church Cottr/es in A^. E., 27, 
28. Comp. Anfw. to the 32 Qnef- 
tions [by Richard Mather], 58, 61. 
"When we fay we do this or that 
with common confent, our meaning 
is, wee do not carry on matters either 
by the over-ruling power of the Pref- 
bytery, or by the confent of the inajor 
part of the church ; but by the gene- 



rail and joynt confent of all the mem- 
bers . . . bjio-^vnadbv, that is, with one 
accord, A6ls 2. 46, as becometh the 
church of God." — Cotton, Way, 94. 

[The expedient of putting a diffent- 
ing minority under cenfure, by admo- 
nition, and thereby nullifying their 
vote, was reforted to in the Bofton 
church, in the cafe of Mrs. Hutchin- 
fon. Two of her fons refufmg to 
agree to her cenfure, were admonifhed, 
and the church was thereby enabled 
to proceed ofio&ufiaodv. — See IVin- 
throp, i. 255.] 

Hooker (Survey, iii. 40) lays down 
the rule that cenfure may be pafled 
'■'■ if fotne few fJiould diffent, in cafe 
their reafons be heard and anfwered, 
and they filenced by power of argu- 
ment ; " and that, in doubtful cafes, if 
"the difference grow wide and great," 
after counfel of the neighbouring 
churches has been had, "either all 
will agree, or elfe the major part of 
the church hath power and right to 
proceed^'' Of his own prudent man- 
agement under this rule, by which 
"he rarely mifled of a full concur- 
rence," and of its refults, fee the 
Magnalia, b. iii. pt. i, app. § 25. 

There is a touch of pathos in Cot- 
ton Mather's allufion to the trials to 
which the "fpeakingariftocracy" was 
occafionally fubjefted, by the " filent 
democracy " of the congregation : 



40 



Plaine dealings 



Engla7id. 

Difference in 
number of Offi 
cers. 



ory is and may he^j-g ^nd cnd, Or to ccrtlfie the Church, and any breth- 

be conftituted m •' 

ren, that will, to be prefent at the difcuffe in private.^^ 

Some Churches have no ruling Elders, fome but one, 
fome but one teaching Elder, fome have two ruling, and 
two teaching Elders ; fome one, fome two or three Dea- 
cons ; fome hold that one Minifler is enough for a fmall 
number of people ; No Church there hath a Deaconeffe, 
as far as I know.^'^ 
chappeisofeafe. Whcrc famics Or villages are, as at Rumney-marflt*° and 
Marblehcad,^' there a Minifler, or a brother of one of the 



" Now tho' this liberty of the breth- 
ren [to judge in their own church 
cafes], be that wherein for the moft 
part the repofe of the paftors has been 
by the compaffionate wifdom of our 
Lord Jefus Chrift provided for, yet 
fome trouble fometimes has arifen to 
the paflors from the brethren's abiife 
of their liberty, isahich has caWd for 
much patience in thofe that have the 
rule over them." — Magnah'a, b. iv. 
pt. 2. c. iv. § ID. 

38 Comp. Cotton, IVay, 95, 96. 

39 See before, p. 8, note 14. 

40 Now Chelfea. No church was 
gathered there until 171 5. Early in 
1640, the owners of farms at Rumney 
Marfli made requeft to the Bofton 
church, that John Oliver, (fon of Elder 
Thomas,) "a gracious young man," 
might be fent "to inftruft [their] fer- 
vants, and be a help to them, becaufe 
they cannot many times come hither. 



nor fometimes to Lynn, and fome- 
times nowhere at all." The confent 
of the church was given, after fome 
debate, and Sergeant Oliver exprefled 
his willingnefs to " employ his weak 
talent to God's fervice." Savage, 
from Keay7ie's Ms., in note to Win- 
throp, i. 328. Mr. Oliver died in 
1646, — "one who, for the fweetnefs 
of his difpofition and ufefulnefs, 
through a public fpirit, was generally 
beloved, and greatly lamented." — 
Ibid. ii. 257. 

41 " Marvill Head is a place which 
lieth four miles full fouth from Salem, 
and is a very convenient place for a 
plantation, efpecially for fuch as will 
fet upon the trade of filhing. There 
was made here a fliip's loading of fifh 
the laft year, where ftill ftand the 
ftages and drying fcaffolds. Here 
be good harbour for boats, and fafe 
riding for fliips." Wood, N. E. Prof- 



Newes from New-England. 4 1 



congregations of Bojlon for the Mar/Ji, and of Salem for There, you ree. 
Marblehead, preacheth and exercifeth prayer every Lords EngiamUnfom" 



places. 



Licence. 



day, which is called prophefying: in fuch a place. And fo 

•^ '-' ^ Propliefying. 

it was heretofore at Mounlwoollajlon within Bojlon pre- 
cinds, though fince it became a Church now called of 
Brainlree,^^- but before they of the mount did, and thofe 
of the MarfJi and Marblchead ftill come and receive the 
Sacrament at Bojlon, and Salem refpectively, and fome of 
Braintree ftill receive at Bojloji. 

Alfo when a Minifter preacheth abroad, in another Prophefying, 
congregation, the ruling Elder of the place, after the Preaching by 
Pfalme fung, faying publiquely; If this prefent brother 
hath any word of exhortation for the people, at this time, 
in the name of God let him fay on \^^ this is held proph- 

pe£l, pt. i. c. 10. The plantation was one of the figners of the remonftrance 

fet off from Salem, as a feparate town- againft Wheelwright's cenfure, but 

(hip, in 1649. Joflelyn found there "acknowledged his failing, and de- 

"a few fcattered houfes . . . ftages for fired his name might be blotted out," 

fifhermen, orchards and gardens ; half May, 1640. Mr. Savage fuggefts that 

a mile within land, good paftures and his ordination at Braintree may have 

arable land." — Voyages, 167. been poftponed "to afford him liberal 

42 The inhabitants of Mount Wol- opportunity for this recantation." It 

laflon were granted town privileges, is poffible that his fin of charity. 

May, 1640, and the name of Brain- though repented of, may have left a 

tree given. — Mafs. Rec, i. 291. The taint of error which influenced "fome 

church was gathered September 17, of Braintree" to receive the facra- 

1639, when Mr. William Tompfon ment at Bofton, after the gathering of 

and Mr. Henry Flint were chofen a church in their own town. — Mafs. 

their miniflers. The former was or- Rec, i. 191 ; Winthrop, \. 196, 247, 

dained November 19; Mr. Flint not 313, 324. 

until March 17, 1640. He had been 43 "The elders calling to them . . . 
6 



42 



Plaine dealings 



It ought not to glVinO". 
be otherwaies in 



i6 



* Univerfities, 
Cathedrals, 
and Collegiat 
Churches. 



* I Cor. 13. 2. 



Alfo the confeffions or fpeeches made by mem- 
bers to be admitted, have beene by fome held prophefy- 
ing, and when a brother exercifeth in his | own congre- 
gation (as at Salem^^ they doe fometimes) taking a text of 
Scripture, and handling the fame according to his ability. 
Notwithftanding, it is generally held in the Bay, by fome 
of the moft grave and learned men amongft them, that 
none fliould undertake to prophefie in publique, unleffe 
he intend the worke of the Miniflery, and fo in fome 
places, as in fchooles*, and not abroad, without they have 
both impofition of hands, and miffion, or permiffion, be- 
caufe prophecie properly hath its denomination from 
^tmdcrjianding propheticall Scriphires, which to know 
difcreetly to handle, requireth good learning, fkill in 
tongues, great fidelity, and good confcience/^ 



If they have any word of exhortation 
to the people, to fay on." — Cotton, 
True Conjiit. of a Particular Vifible 
Church, p. 6. 

44 As to the diflinftion between 
"teaching by office" and "prophefy- 
ing," fee Ainfworth's Counterpoyfon, 
1608, pp. 174-178 ; Robinfon's Apol- 
ogy, 1625, c. viii.; and People's Plea 
for the Exercife of Prophefy, 161 8, 
pp. 6, 33 ; Cotton, Keyes, 20, 2 1 (comp. 
Goodwin and Nye, in Preface) ; [or, 
in Hanbury's Metnorials, i. 175-6, 
353? 3S9 ; ii- 263 ;] Bradford's Dia- 
logue, in Young's Chron. of the Pil- 
grims, 419, 420. 



45 " Mr. Skelton, the paftor of Sa- 
lem, and Mr. [Roger] Williams, who 
was removed from Plimouth thither, 
(but not in any office, though he exer- 
cifed by way of prophecy,)" etc. — 
Winthrop, i. 117 (1633). 

4'3 " Though wee deny not, but in 
fome cafe, fome able judicious expe- 
rienced Chriftians, may humbly and 
foberly, when neceffity requires, as in 
the want of Minifters and being in- 
vited thereunto, difpence now and 
then a word of exhortation to their 
brethren, This is farre enough from 
Preaching in an ordinary way [or, as 
W. R. had afferted,] with all An- 



Newes from New-England. 



43 



T 



The publique worfJiipe. 
HE publique worfliip is in as faire a meeting houfe i\^& puwique 

1 • 1 1 • • o 1 woi-fliip. 

as they can provide, wherein, in moft places, they 



have beene at great charges."*^ 



Every Sabbath or Lords 



//w;-///."— Welde's Aiifwer to IV. R., 
37, 38. 

Mr. Cotton accorded a larger lib- 
erty : "As for the publike teaching of 
a private man, indued with gifts and 
zeal, I know not why it may not be 
allowed, not only in cafe of extreme 
neceffitie, but in fonie cafes of expe- 
diency, as when his gifts are to be 
proved before he be called into of- 
fice." {Way cleared, ii. 24.) " It is 
not an unheard of novelty, That God 
fliould enlarge private men with pub- 
like gifts, and that they that have re- 
ceived fuch gifts, fhould take liberty 
to difpenfe them unto edification." 
{Ibid. 27.) " And in this," fays Gov. 
Bradford, " the chief of our minifters 
in New England agree." — Dialogue, 
See, in Young's Chron. 421. 

When Mr. Wilfon went to Eng- 
land, in 1 63 1, he commended to his 
church, " the exercife of prophefy 
in his abfence, and defigned thofe 
whom he thought mofl: fit for it," 
namely. Gov. Winthrop, Mr. Dudley, 
and the ruling elder, Increafe Nowell. 
— Winthrop, i. 50. 

The next year, when Winthrop was 
in Plymouth on the Sabbath, Mr. 



Roger Williams propounded a quef- 
tion, " according to their cuftom," 
"to which the paftor, Mr. Smith, 
fpake briefly ; then Mr. WiUiams 
prophefied," and, afterwards, Gov. 
Bradford, Elder Brewfter, " then fome 
two or three more of the congrega- 
tion," and, by invitation. Gov. Win- 
throp and Mr. Wilfon, fpoke to the 
queflion. — Winthrop, i. 91, 92. 

In 1634, when the people at Aga- 
wam (Ipfwich) were without a niinif- 
ter. Gov. Winthrop " fpent the Sab- 
bath with them, and exercifed by way 
of prophecy." — Ibid. i. 30. 

" The practice of private members 
making fpeeches in the church affem- 
blies, to the difturbance and hin- 
drance of the ordinances," was one 
of the evils reproved by Mr. Rogers 
of Rowley, in his fermon before the 
Synod and the General Court, in 
1647. — Winthrop, ii. 308. 

47 The new meeting-houfe in Bof- 
ton was finiflied the year before Lech- 
ford's departure. It flood (for feventy- 
one years) " on the fite now occupied 
by Joy's Building, in Wafliington 
Street, a little to the fouth of, and 
oppofite to, the head of State Street." 



44 



Plaine dealing, 



Every Sunday 
morning. 



day, they come together at Bojion, by wringing of a bell/* 
about nine of the clock or before. 



Drake's Bojlon, 142. It was ereft- 
ed at a cofl: of about ^1000, "which 
was raifed out of the weekly volun- 
tary contribution, without any noife 
or complaint." (IVitithrop, ii. 24.) 
Jofhua Scottow, contrafted the " am- 
plified and dignified " church of Bof- 
ton, in his latter days, with " that lit- 
tle church which after feven years 
growth, its number (in their mud- 
wall Meeting-Hoit/e, with wooden 
Chalices) was fo fmall as a child might 
have told [counted] the whole Affem- 
bly." — Narr. of the Planting, &c. (4 
Mafs. Hijl. Coll., iv. 307). 

48 Bofton was favored, in having a 
bell "to wring," in 1641, or before, — 
though Lechford does not tell us 
whether the bell was Jlationa>y, or 
perambnlatory in the hand of a bell- 
man. In moft of the towns of New 
England, at this period, the fummons 
to public worfhip, and to other meet- 
ings of the inhabitants, was given by 
beat of drum. Johnfon relates, how 
a new-comer from England, in 1636, 
when near Cambridge, " hearing the 
found of a Drum, . . . demands of the 
next man he met what the fignall of 
the drum ment ; the reply was made 
that they had as yet no Bell to call 
men to meeting ; and thereupon made 
ufe of a drum." W. W. Providefice, 
b. i. c. xliii. Yet Prince ftates, on 
the authority of a manufcript letter, 
that the Cambridge meeting-houfe, 



The Paftor begins 



built in 1632, had "a bell npon itf 
and Dr. Holmes thinks the statement 
confirmed by the town-records, which 
fliow that town-meetings were then 
called by the ringing of the bell. 
HiJl. of Cambridge J Mafs. Hiflor. 
Coll.,V\\. 19. Mr. Davenport of New 
Haven, writing to Gov. Winthrop, 
Oftober 17, 1662, mentions the fick- 
nefs of his colleague, Mr. Street, 
who, " the laft lefture day . . . pur- 
pofed to preach . . . and continued 
in that purpofe till the fecond drum, 
but then was compelled to take his 
bed." Another letter (November, 
1660) gives an account of the laft 
ficknefs of Gov. Newman : " My fon 
went to him after the beating of the 
firft drum. . . . When the fecond 
drum beat, I was fent for to him." 

Hartford had a town-crier and bell- 
ringer as early as 1641, at leaft ; and 
in 1643, the town ordered "a bell to 
be rung by the watch every morning, 
an hour before day break," and " that 
there fliould be in every houfe, one 
up, and have made fome light, within 
one quarter of an hour after the end 
of the bell ringing." To devife a 
penalty that would infure compliance 
with fuch a requifition, in this gene- 
ration, might prove a difficult problem 
for legiflators. That Watertown had 
a church-bell as early as February, 
1649, the payment at that time for a 
bell-rope, which is noted in the town 



Newes from New-England. 



45 



with folemn prayer continuing about a quarter of an 
houre. The Teacher then readeth and expoundeth a 
Chapter/'' Then a Pfahne is fung, which ever one of the 
ruling Elders di61ates.^° After that the Paftor preacheth 
a Sermon, 5' and fometimes ex tempore exhorts. Then 
the Teacher concludes with prayer, and a bleffing. 

Once a moneth is a Sacrament of the Lords Supper,^^ Lords supper. 



records, feems to prove. (Bond's 
Watertown, 1046.) 

49 " After prayer, either the paftor 
or teacher readeth a chapter in tl\e 
Bible, and expoundetli it." — Cotton, 
Way, 67. Comp. Tnie Conjlit. of a 
Church, 6. 

" In England," wrote Lechford to 
a friend in 1640, "twelve or thirteen 
chapters and pfalms are read every 
Sunday, in all churches, befide what 
is upon Wednefdays and Fridays and 
other holydays ; but here, Scripture 
twice a Sunday, in any Church, upon 
whatfoever occafion ; but preaching, 
and long conceived prayers." — Ms. 
copy (in J]iort-ha7id). Comp. p. 20, 
after. 

50 " Before Sermon, and many times, 
after, we fmg a Pfalme, and becaufe 
the former tranflation of the Pfalmes 
doth in many things vary from the 
original, and many times paraphrafeth 
rather than tranflateth ; befides divers 
other defefts (which we cover in fi- 
lence) we have endeavoured a new 
tranflation of the Pfalmes into Englifli 



meetre, as near the originall as wee 
could exprefs it, . . . and thofe Pfalmes 
we fing both in our publick churches, 
and in private." — Cotton, Way, 6j. 

51 " In difpenfmg whereof, the Min- 
ifter was wont to ftand above all the 
people in a pulpit of wood, and the 
Elders on both fides." Cotton, Trne 
Conjlit. of a Church, 6. "In fundry 
churches, the other, whether pallor 
or teacher, who expoundeth not, he 
preacheth the Word ; and in the after- 
noon, the other who preached in the 
morning, doth ufually (if there be 
time) reade and preach, and he that 
expounded in the morning preacheth 
after him." — Way, 67. 

"At Quinnipyack [New Haven] 
Mr. Davenport preached in the fore- 
noon that men fhould be uncovered, 
and ftand up at the reading the text ; 
and in the afternoon the aflembly 
jointly praftifed it." — Mr. Hooker^ 
in letter to Mr. Shepard, March 20, 
1640 [in Hutchinfon, i. 430, note]. 

52 Comp. Cotton, Way, 67-69. 



46 Plaine dealing, 



1 7 whereof notice is given ufually a fortnight | before, and 
then all others departing fave the Church, which is a great 
deale leffe in number then thofe that goe away, they re- 
ceive the Sacrament, the Minifters and ruling Elders fit- 
ting at the Table, the reft in their feats, or upon forms : 
All cannot fee the Minifter confecrating, unleffe they 
ftand up, and make a narrow fliift. The one of the 
teaching Elders prayes before, and bleffeth, and confe- 
crates the Bread and Wine, according to the words of 
Inftitution ; the other prays after the receiving of all the 
members : and next Communion, they change turnes ; 
he that began at that, ends at this : and the Minifters de- 
liver the Bread in a Charger to fome of the chiefe, and 
peradventure gives to a few the Bread into their hands, 
and they deliver the Charger from one to another, till all 
have eaten ; in like manner the cup, till all have dranke, 
goes from one to another. Then a Pfalme is fung, and 
with a fliort bleffmg the congregation is difmiffed. Any 
one, though not of the Church, may, in Bojlon, come in, 
* Once I flood without one of the aud * fcc thc Sacramcnt adminiftered, if he 

doores, and looked in, and faw 

the adminiftration : BeCdes, I have will I " But UOnC of aUy ChUTCh lu tllC COUU- 
had credible relation of all the par- 
ticulars from fome of the members, try may receive the Sacrament there, without 

leave of the congregation, for which purpofe he comes 

S3 " It is not true that wee hold out without exception are allowed to be 
any at all, Englifh or Indian, out of prefent, at our publick Prayers and 
our Chriftian Congregations. AH Pfalmes, at our reading of the Scrip- 



Newes from. New-England. 



47 



to one of the ruling Elders, who propounds his name to 
the congregation, before they goe to the Sacrament.^'* 

About two in the after-noone, they repaire to the meet- Aftemoone. 
ing-houfe againe ; and then the Paflor begins, as before 
noone, and a Pfalme being | fung, the Teacher makes a i8 
Sermon. He was wont, when I came firfl, to reade and 
expound a Chapter alfo before his Sermon in the after- 
noon. After and before his Sermon, he prayeth. 

After that enfues Baptifme,^^ if there be any, which is ^^p"^"^^- 



tures, and the preaching and expound- 
ing of the fame, and alfo at the ad- 
mitting of Members and difpenfmg 
of feales and cenfures." — Cotton, 
Way cleared, i. 69. 

54 " The members of any Church, if 
any be prefent, who bring Letters tef- 
timoniall with them to our Churches, 
wee admit them to the Lords Table 
with us, and their children alfo (if oc- 
cafionally in their travell they be 
borne with us) upon like recommenda- 
tion, wee admit to Baptifnier Cot- 
ton's Way of the Churches, 68. Com- 
pare, Keyes, 17; Hooker's Survey, 
iii. 28, 29, 32 ; Anfwer to Nine Po- 
fitions, 17; Defence of the Anfwer, 
by AUin and Shepard, ch. iii. 2. "We 
hold it not unlawfuU, (but doe often 
practife) to receive other members to 
communion with us withotit letters; 
efpecially if they bee knowne to any 
of our Church, elfe fuch letters are 
defirable." — Welde's Anfiucr to W. 
R; 53- 



55 Compare Cotton's Way of the 
Churches, 67, 68. Hooker (Survey, 
iii. 28) fays that the Lord's Supper 
and Baptifm " muft be difpenfed pub- 
likely, in the prefence, and with the 
concurrence of the Church folemnly 
affembled," and fhould "goe hand in 
hand" with preaching; "after the 
word preached, the feals fhould be 
adminiftred." So, the New Haven 
Church Catechifm, by Davenport and 
Hooke (repr. New Haven, 1853, p. 56), 
in anfwer to the queftion, " How is 
Baptifm to be adminiflered ? " I do 
not find, in the early authorities on 
Congregational order, an intimation 
that baptifm might not rightfully be 
adminiftered on any day of the week, 
when the Church was aflembled and 
the word preached. See Anf-wer to 
N^ine Pofitions, pp. 36, 37. Mr. Ball, 
in the Reply to the Anfwer (p. 38), 
remarks incidentally, and not as if 
the pofition was a matter of contro- 
verfy, " Baptifme is not tyed to the 



48 



Plaine dealing. 



Contribution. 



done, by either Paftor or Teacher, in the Deacons feate, 
the mofl eminent place in the Church, next under the 
Elders feate. The Paftor moft commonly makes a 
fpeech or exhortation to the Church, and parents con- 
cerning Baptifme, and then prayeth before and after. It 
is done by wafhing or fprinkling. One of the parents 
being of the Church, the childe may be baptized, and the 
Baptifme is into the name of the Father, and of the 
Sonne, and of the holy Ghojl. No fureties are required. 

Which ended, follows the contribution, one of the 
Deacons faying. Brethren of the congregation, now there 
is time left for contribution, wherefore as God hath prof- 
pered you, fo freely offer.^^ Upon fome extraordinary 



firfl day of the week." That, in point 
of fa6l, this facrament was ufually — 
perhaps, almojl invariably — admin- 
iftered on the firft day, in the churches 
of New England, there is no room 
for doubt. Mr. Davenport, writing, 
in 1666, about the innovations which 
the Rev. Jofeph Haynes was intro- 
ducing in the church at Hartford, 
fays, parenthetically, that he fuppofes 
baptifm "was never adminiftered, in 
a week day, in that Church, before." 
3 Ma/s. Hijl. Coll., x. 61. But the 
" lax ways" which (in the fame letter) 
he cenfured in Mr. Haynes were thofe 
which concerned the Jubje^s of bap- 
tifm, not merely the time of its ad- 
miniftration. Mr. Davenport was a 
zealous "Anti-synodift," or oppofer 



of the Half-way Covenant. Mr. 
Haynes went even beyond the Syn- 
odifts in " large Congregationalifm " 
(as it was afterwards termed), by ad- 
mitting not only the children of half- 
way covenanting parents, but grand- 
children in right of covenanting 
grandparents, adopted children, fer- 
vants; and flaves, in right of their 
adoptants and mafters. 

s6 " The Deacons, (who fit in a feate 
under the Elders, yet in fundry 
churches Hfted up higher then the 
other pewes,) doe call upon the peo- 
ple, that as God hath profpered them, 
and hath made their hearts willing, 
there is now time left for contribu- 
tion."— Cotton, Way of the Churches, 
69. 



Newes fj'om New-Eitgland. 49 



occafions, as building and repairing of Churches or 
meeting-houfes, or other neceffities, the Minifters preffe 
a Hberall contribution, with effedtuall exhortations out of 
Scripture. The Magiftrates and chiefe Gentlemen firft, 
and then the Elders, and all the conofres^ation of men 
and moft of them that are not of the Church, all fnigle 
perfons, widows, and women in abfence of their husbands, 
come up one after another one way, and bring their offer- 
ings to the Deacon at his feate, and put it into a box of 
wood for the purpofe, if it bee money or | papers ; if it be ig 
any other chattle, they fet it or lay it downe before the 
Deacons, and fo paffe another way to their feats againe." 
This contribution is of money, or papers, promifmg fo 
much money : I have feene a faire gilt cup with a cover, 
offered there by one, which is ftill ufed at the Communion. 
Which moneys, and goods the Deacons difpofe towards 
the maintenance of the Minifters, and the poore of the 
Church, and the Churches occafions, without making ac- 
count, ordinarily.^^ 

57 " The people from the higheft to duty of contribution ; whereupon the 

the lowed in sundry Churches do governour and all the reft went down 

arife, the firft pew firft, the next next, to the deacon's feat, and put into the 

and fo the reft in order, and prefent box, and then returned." — IVintlirop, 

before the Lord their holy offerings." i. 92. 

Ibid. Comp. Joffelyn, Voyages, 180. sS " This weekly contribution is 

In Brewfter's church at Plymouth, properly intended for the poore, ac- 

when Gov. Winthrop was there in cording to i Cor. 16. i. Yet fo as (if 

1632, "The deacon, Mr. Fuller, put there be much given in,) fome churches 

the congregation in mind of their doe (though others do not) appoint 



50 



Plaine dealings 



Differences in 
contributions. 



But in Salem Church, thofe onely that are of the 
Church, offer in publique ; the reft are required to give to 
the Minifterie, by collection, at their houfes. At fome 
other places they make a rate upon every man, as well 
within, as not of the Church, refiding with them, towards 
the Churches occafions ; and others are beholding, now 
and then, to the generall Court, to ftudy wayes to enforce 
the maintenance of the Minifterie.^'^ 



the overplus towards the Minifters 
maintenance. 2. This is not given 
in by the people according to their 
weekly gaines [as Rathband had 
ftated,] but as God hath blejl them 
with an ejlate in . the generall. . . . 
3. Nor is this difpenfed to the Minif- 
ters (in thofe churches where any 
part of it is fo given) though by the 
hands of the Deacons, yet not for 
[proportion as they pleafe, .... but 
by the Church, who ufually, twice in 
the year or oftener, doe meete to con- 
fult and determine of the fumme to 
l)e allowed for that yeere to their 
Minifters, and to raife it, either from 
the Churches treafurie .... or by a 
contril)ution to be then made on pur- 
pofe." — Welde, Anfwer to W.R., 59. 
59 See the order of court, Sept., 
1638, Maff. Rec, i. 240. Mr. Cotton 
was not willing that the Boflon 
Church fhould avail itfelf of any com- 
pulfory procefs, and taught his people^ 
" that when magiftrates are forced to 
provide for the maintenance of minif- 
ters, etc., then the churches are in a 



declining condition ;" and "he fhowed 
that the minifters' maintenance fhould 
be by voluntary contribution," &c. 
Winthrop, i. 295. When Roger Wil- 
liams objefted to the "conftraint laid 
upon all confciences ... to come to 
church and pay church duties," 
{Blondy Tenent, c. Ixix.) Mr. Cotton 
replied, " I know of no conftraint at 
all that lieth upon the confciences of 
any in New England, to come to 
Church . . . Leaft of all do I know 
that any are conftrained to pay 
church duties in New England. Sure I 
am none in our own town are conftrain- 
ed to pay any church duties at all. What 
they pay they give voluntarily, each 
one with his own hand, without any 
conftraint at all but their own will, as 
the Lord directs them." {Bl. Tenent 
IVaJJied, 146.) In his rejoinder, 
Williams fays : " For a freedom of 
not paying in his [Mr. Cotton's] 
town, // is to their coj/miendaiion, 
and God's praife. Yet who can be 
ignorant of the aftelTments upon all, 
in {7///^';- towns," etc. {Bl. Tenent yet 



Newes from New-England. 



51 



This done, then followes admiffion of members, or hear- Admimons. 

Offences. 

ing matters of offence, or other things, fometimes*^" till it 
be very late. If they have time, after this, is fung a 
Pfalme, and then the Paftor concludeth with a Prayer and 
a bleffmg. 

Upon the week dayes, there are Le6lures in divers Leaures. 

^ ■' Fafts & FeaJ^s 

townes,^' and in Bojlon, upon Thurfdayes, when Mafter 



7nore bloody, 216.) It is not eafy to 
reconcile Mr. Cotton's general denial 
with Winthrop's ftatement, (ii. 93.) 
that fome churches raifed their minif- 
ters' maintenance by taxation, "which 
was very offenfive to fome ; " or with 
his account of the profecution of 
" one Brifcoe of Watertown, who . . . 
being grieved . . . becaufe himfelf 
and others, wlio were no members, 
were taxed, wrote a book againft it," 
which he " publiflied underhand ; " 
for which offence the court fined him 
£\o, and "one of the publifhers" £1, 
in March, 1643, — not long before 
Roger Williams failed for England 
(where he printed the Bloudy Tenent). 
Hooker, (Survey, ii. 29, 32,) regard- 
ing it the duty of " every one that is 
taught " to contribute, argues that 
fuch contribution fhould be enforced, 
not by the civil magiftrate, but by the 
difcipline of the church. " In cafe 
any member fhall fail in this free con- 
tribution, he finnes in a breach of the 
knowne rule of the Gofpell ; it apper- 
tains to the Church, to fee the Refor- 
mation of that evill, as of any other 



fcandall." And he makes it the duty 
of the deacon, if any member fail to 
perform this duty, to admonifh, and, 
in cafe he reform not, to " follow the 
adlion againft him . . . and bring 
him to the cenfure of the church." 
Ibid. 37. 

60 In the M.H.S. MS., the comma 
is placed rt//^r'fometimes ;' "or other 
things fometimes, till," &c. 

61 " So that fuch whofe hearts God 
maketh willing, and his hand doth 
not detaine by bodily infirmitie, or 
other neceffary imployments, (if they 
dwell in the heart of the Bay) may 
have opportunitie to heare the Word 
almoft every day of the weeke in one 
Church or other, not farre diftant from 
them." Cotton, WayoftheChnrclus, 
70. In 1639, "there were fo many 
lectures . . . and many poor perfons 
would ufually refort to two or three 
in the week, to the great negled of 
their affairs and the damage of tlie 
public," — that the General Court 
fou'dit a conference with the Elders 
" to confider about the length and fre- 
quency of church affemblies," &c. 



52 



Plaine dealings 



Cotto7i teacheth out of the Revelations^ There are dayes 
20 of fafling, thankfgiving, | and prayers upon ^occafions, but 
feffarting'^Lyrs ^^ ^ ^'^^'^^ dayes, except the Sunday. 

& times, and fet feafts, as well as fet Synods in the Reformed Churches ? b And why not holy dayes as well as the fift of 
November, and the dayes of Purim among the Jews? Befides, the commemoration of the bleffed and heavenly myfleries 
of our ever blelTed Saviour, and the good examples and piety of the Saints? What time is there for the moderate recrea- 
tion of youth and fervants, but after divine fervices on moft of thofe dayes, feeing that upon the Sunday it is juftly held 
unlawfuU ? And fare enough, at New-England, the Maflers will and mud hold their fervants to their labour more then in 
otlier Countries well planted is needful! ; therefore I think even they fliould doe well to admit of fome Holy dayes too, as 
not a few of the wifer fort among them hold neceffary and expedient. 



But " this was taken in ill part by 
moft of the elders and others of the 
churches," who regarded it as an 
infringement of their liberties, and 
feared it might " alfo raife an ill fa- 
vour of the people's coldnefs, that 
would complain of much preaching," 
— and the magiftrates " finding how 
hardly fuch propofitions would be 
digefled . . . thought it not fit 
to enter any difpute or conference 
on the fubje6l." (IVinthrop, i. 324, 
325.) Rarely, fince then, has the 
General Court had occafion to confi- 
der tlie expediency of legiflating for 
the fuppreffion of inordinate church- 
going. 

f'- Mr. Cotton's fermons upon the 
thirteenth chapter of the Revelation 
were printed in London, in 1655, from 
notes taken by one of his hearers. 
An Epirtle to the Reader, by Rev. 
Thomas Allen (formerly of Charlef- 
town, but then of Norwich, co. Lin- 
coln), fpeaks of his having had " the 
happy priviledg [while living in that 
American wilderneffe ... in the towne 
next adjoyning to Bo/ion,'] of enjoying 



the benefit of the precious labours of 
Mr. Cotton, in his Leflure upon every 
fifth day of the week ; " and ftates 
that this expofition of chap. xiii. was 
delivered "about the 11. and 12. 
moneths (if I miftake not) of the year 
1639, ^rid the firfi; and fecond of the 
yeare 1640." Before June, 1641, Mr. 
Cotton had reached the end of the 
1 5th chapter. {lVuit/irop,u.'^o.) His 
Sermons on the Seven Vials, from 
the 1 6th chapter, were printed early 
in 1642, and the volume was received 
in Bofton in July. {Ibid., ii. 75.) " Mr. 
Humfrey had gotten the notes from 
fome who had took tJicin by chambers, 
and printed them in London," with- 
out Mr. Cotton's confent. Was this 
note-taker Lechford.'' — " This Vener- 
able Seer," wrote Jofliua Scottow, 
" nvhofe f/icthod was to go through 
the Books of Scripture he entred 
upon, and had in his Minifterial 
Courfe in both Bojions been (length- 
ened out to little lefs than forty years), 
went through near the whole Bible." 
— N^arrative of the Planting, &c., 4 
Jl/afs. Hifl. Coll., iv. 284. 



Newes from New-England. 53 



In fome Churches, nothing is 'read on the firft day of ^ittie reading « 

catechizing. 

the weeke, or Lords day, but a Pfalme dilated before or 

after the Sermon, as at Hing- , whereas in England every Sunday are read in publique, Chap- 

hnnt ' therP i<; nnrni-prhlyino- '"^ ^'"dPfalmes in every Churd,,befides the eleven or twelve Com- 

nam , mere is no t^aieCniZing mandemems "Epiftle and Cofpell, the Creed and other good formes 

C\^ rln'lHrPn nr ntVlPrc I'n amr ^nd catechizings, and befides what is read upon Holy dayes and 

Ul CnilUren or OinerS in any other dayes both in the parith, and Cathedral! and Collegiate 

Chnrrh (ey.C^X^\ in Cniirnvr/ '^''"'■'''"^"' ^ '" ^''^ Univenlties, and other Chappels, the benefit 
V.11UIC11, (^exeepi 111 K^UnCOra whereof, doubtleffe, all wife men win acknowledge to be exceeding 
/^i IP* i.1 1 great, as well as publique preaching and expounding. 

Church, & m other places, 

of thofe admitted, in their receiving:) the reafon given 
by fome is, becaufe when people come to be admitted, 
the Church hath tryall of their knowledge, faith, and 
repentance, and they want a dire(?i: Scripture for Min- 
ifters catechizing ;^^ as if, Goe teach all Nations, and Traine 
Zip a childe in the way he JJwiild goe, did not reach to 
Miniflers catechizings. But, God be thanked, the gen- 
erall Court was fo wife, in lune laft, as to enjoyn, or take 

63 See before, p. 16, note 49. color of the ink fliows this to have 

64 The printer of the firft edition mif- been done early." (3 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., 
placed the words "eleven or twelve," iii. 79.) — For "Creed," in the third 
which fhould have been inferted, in line of the note, the M.H.S. MS. has 
the line above, before "Chapters." "creeds ;" and, in the fifth line, after 
The manufcript in the Library of "parifli," is the word "churches." 
the MafTachufetts Hiftorical Society ^5 " The excellent and neceflary ufe 
is fufficient authority, if any is re- ofcatechifing young men, and novices, 
quired, for the corredion of fo ob- ... we willingly acknowledge : But 
vious an error. In all the copies of little benefit have wee feene reaped 
the firft edition which I have feen (as from fet formes of queftions, and an- 
in that from which the Mafs. Hift. fwers devifed by one Church, and im- 
Society's reprint was made), "a pen pofed by neceffity on another."— Cot- 
has been carefully drawn through tlie ton, Anf. to Ball's Difc. of Set Fonnes 
words 'eleven or twelve,' and the ^//';7Z7^T,(London, i642,)ch. vii.p.4i- 



54 



Plaiiie dealinjr, 



21 

Dayes and 
inoneths how 
t.illed. 



Ntj;le<rt of in- 
ftnidling the 
I ndians. 



fome coiirfe for fuch catechizing, as I am informed, but 
know not the way laid down in particular, how it fliould 
be done.*^*^ 

They call the dayes of the weeke, beginning at the 
firfl, fecond, third, forth, fifth, fixth, and feventh, which is Sa- 
turday : the moneths begin "^^ at March, by the names of 
the firft, fecond, and so forth to the twelfth, which is Fcb- 
ruary : becaufe they would avoid all memory of heathenifli 
and idols names : And furely it is good to overthrow hea- 
thenifme by all good^^ wayes and meanes. But there 
hath not been any fent forth by any Church to learne the 
Natives language, or to inflru6l them in the Religion;^'' 



6^ "It is defired that the elders 
would make a catechifme for the in- 
llrudlion of youth in the grounds of 
religion." (June, 1641.) — Ma/s. Rcc, 
i. 328. 

•37 "Beginning." — il/.//.^". MS. 

63 Theinfertion of the word "good" 
— which is not in the M.H.S. MS.— 
was a judicious qualification. 

&9 A few years later, the labors of 
Eliot, Mayhew, and their fellow-la- 
borers, had done much to remove this 
reproach from the churches. Robert 
Baylie, the Presbyterian writer, in 
" A Dijfvafive from tlie Erroiirs of 
the Time^'' printed in 1645, cites 
this remark of Lechford's in fupport 
of his averment that the Independents 
of New England, "of all that ever 
croffed the American Seas, . . . are 



noted as moft negle6lful of the work 
of Converfion" (p. 60). Mr. Cotton, 
in TJie Way of Congregational 
Churches cleared {164S)), — which was 
written in reply to Baylie's book, — 
alks, " What if there have not bin 
any fent forth by any Church to learn 
the Indians language 1 That will 
not argue our negleft of minding the 
work of their converfion. For there 
be of the Indians that live amongft 
us, and dayly refort to us ; and fome 
of them learne our language ; and 
fome of us learn theirs. And men 
that love the Lord Jefus doe gladly 
take opportunity to inftrucl; them in 
our Religion, and to teach them both 
Law and Gofpell. And of late, the 
Word (as I have faid) is pubhckly 
preached unto them in two feverall 



Nezves from New-England. 



55 



Firft, becaufe they fay they have not to do with them 
being without, unleffe they come to heare and learn Eng- 
Hfli/° Secondly, fome fay out of Rev. 15. laft,^' it is not, 
probable that any nation more can be converted, til the 
calling of the Jews ; till the /even plagues finiJJied 7ione was 
able to enter into the Temple, that is, the Chriflian Church, 
and the feventh Viall is not yet poured forth, and God 
knowes when it will bee/^ Thirdly, becaufe all Churches 
among them are equall, and all Officers equall, and fo be- 
tweene many, nothing is done that way. They muft all 



Iiuiian Congregations [one near to 
Dorchejier Mill, and another in Cam- 
bridge, neer JValerlOcUU Mill\ though 
wee never thought it fit to fend any 
of our Englifli to live amongft them, 
to learn their language : for who 
JJioidd teach thetji .?" — Pt. i. pp. 78, 79. 
To High-Church writers, as well 
as to Presbyterians, Lechford's ftate- 
ments on this point fupplied conve- 
nient matter of reproach againft New 
England. " O that we could approve 
to God and our confciences that [the 
propagation of Chriftian religion] is 
our main motive and princijDal drift in 
our Weftern plantations ; but how 
little appearance there is of this holy 
care and endeavour, the plaine dealer 
upon knowledge hath fufficiently in- 
formed us." — Diverfe Pranicall Cafes 
of Cojfcience Refolved (1649), p. 323, 
cited by Dr. Palfrey, Hlfl. of N. Eng- 
land, ii. 192. (See after, p. 69, and 
note.) 



70 " I know not whether ever any 
gave him fo weake an account, or no : 
If any fo did, it was his raflineiTe, or 
ignorance both of us, and the truth. 
But if the Author fpeake it, as a Point 
of our Profeffion or praflife, that we 
doe negleft the inftruftion of the In- 
dians, and efpecially upon fuch a rea- 
fonlelTe reafon, I will fay no more to 
it but this, it feemeth there are two 
forts oi Plain dealing: Plain honeft 
dealing, and Plain falfe dealing, of 
which latter fort, this fpeach is." — 
Cotton's Way cleared, pt. i. p. 79. 

71 "Verfe the lad." — J/.//.^. MS. 

72 This was Mr. Cotton's belief 
See Winthrop, ii. 30 ; (and comp. Way 
of the Churches cleared, pt. i. p. 78.) 
" Till the Jewes come in, there is a 
feale fet upon the hearts of thofe 
people, as they thinke from fomc 
Apocalyptical! places." The Day- 
Breaking, &c., pp. 15, 16. — Roger 
Williams, though (at this period) he 



56 Plaine dealing, 



Chnrity 



therefore equally beare the blame ; for indeede I humbly" 
conceive that by their principles, no Nation can or could 
ever be converted. Therefore, if fo, by their principles 
how can any Nation be governed ? They have nothing 
to excufe themfelves in this point of not labouring with 
the Indians to infl;ru(51; them, but their want of ^'^ a ftaple 
trade, and other bufmeffes taking them up. And it is 
true, this may excufe a tanto. 
22 Of late fome Churches are of opinion, that any | may 

be admitted to Church-fellowfliip, that are not extremely 
ignorant or fcandalous : but this they are not very for- 
ward to pra6lice, except at Newbcrryy" Befides, many 
good people fcruple their Church Covenant, so highly 

was more hopeful of the fruits of to repent, and be baptifed in the name 

labors among the Indians, likewife of the Lord Jefus, without known dif- 

believed " that no remarkable conver- fimulation, are to be admitted [to 

fion of the nations is yet to be ex- Church fellowfhip] . . . and that God 

pefled, becaufe fmoke filled the tem- took into covenant fome that were 

pie till Antichrift was overthrown, veffels of wrath, as for other ends, fo 

Rev.yiwZr — Hireling Minijlry none to facilitate the converfion of their 

of CliriJTs, p. 13; in Knowles's Me- eled children." — Rev. Nich. Noyes^ 

inoir of R. Williams, 378. in the Magnalia, b. iii. pt. 2. ch. 25. 

73 " I humbly" was fubftituted, on Mr. Parker wrote to a member of the 
revifion, for "fome."— M.H.S. MS. Weftminfter Affembly, in December, 

74 "Their poverty, and want," &c. 1643, that he and his colleague held 
— ^bid. that " the rule mull be fo large that the 

75 Where the Rev. James Noyes weakeft Chriftians may be received ; 
was paflor, and the Rev. Thomas and [that] there was according to ap- 
Parker, teacher. Mr. Noyes "was pearance, much conjundion in this 
jealous (if not too jealous) of particu- particular," among thofe prefent in 
lar Church-covenants. ... He held the Synod at Cambridge in Septem- 
. . . that fuch as (how a willingnefs ber. — Hanbury's Memorials, ii. 295. 



Newes from New -England. 



57 



tearmed by the moft of them/^ a part of the * Covenant 
of grace ; and particularly, one Mafter Marthi'^'' for faying 
in argumentation, that their Church Covenant was an 
humane invention, and that they will not leave till it came 
to the fwords point, was fined ten pounds, his cow taken 
and fold for the money. A Minifter^^ ftanding upon his 



* The Covenant 
of Grace of the 
New Teftament, 
it is true, makes 
the whole univer- 
fall Church of 
Chrift, and every 
part thereof, or at 
leaft belongetli 
thereunto : but 
allowing Church- 
es a Covenant of 



Mr. Warham, of Dorchefler, and 
afterwards of Windfor, Conn., appears 
to have favored " the parifli way" (as 
it was called) at his firfl coming to 
New England. Samuel Fuller wrote 
to Bradford, June, 1630, that "Mr. 
Warham holds that the vifible church 
may confift of a mixed people, — god- 
ly, and openly ungodly ; upon which 
point we all had our conference," 
&c. — I Mafs. Hijl. Coll., iii. 74. 

76 The earlier (M.H.S.) MS. has 
" by them," without the words " the 
moft of." — According to Hooker, the 
church-covenant is " an ordinance of 
the Gofpel, and warraiitcd by the 
Gofpel, but it is not in propriety of 
fpeech the covenant of the Gofpel.'''' 
" A man may be in the covenant of 
grace, and fhare in the benefit thereof, 
who is not in a Church ftate, and a 
man may be in a Church ftate, who 
is not really in the Covenant of grace 
. . . and therefore the one is not 
the other." — Survey., i. 70, 78, 79. 

77 The M.H.S. MS. ends the para- 
graph abruptly with, " and Mr. Mar- 
tin." The fourteen lines which follow 
were transferred to this place, on re- 
vifion, with additions and alterations, 



from another page (27) of that MS., 
where they follow the notice of the 
church at Aquedney, under the cap- 
tion, " Mr. Lenthall his Controverfie. 
Brittaine whipt," — and a marginal 
dire(5\ion (in fhort-hand), " Put thefe 
notes in their proper places." 

At a General Court, March 13, 
1639, — "Mr. Ambros Marten [of 
Dorchefter,] for calling the church 
covenant a ftinking carrion & a hu- 
mane invention, & faying hee won- 
dered at God's patience, feared it 
would end in the fharpe, & faid the 
minifters did dethrone Chrift, & fet 
up themfelves ; hee was fined 10/. 
and counfelled to go to Mr. Mather, 
to bee inftrucled by him." — J/rt/S'. 
Rec, i. 252. See Winthrop, i. 289. 

78 Mr. Robert Lenthall.— See, after, 
p. 41, note 144; Winthrop, i. 287, 
288; Mafs. Rec, i. 217, 254. Mr. 
Lenthall did not long remain in the 
Colony. In 1640, he was at New- 
port ; admitted a freeman there Aug. 
6, and employed by the town to 
teach a public fchool. He returned 
to England in 1641 or 1642. — Ar- 
nold's HiJl of R. IJland, i. 145-46; 
Callender's Hijl. Difcourfe, 62. It 



58 Plaine dealing, 



Reformation MinifteiT, as of tlic ChuTch of Eiizlcind, and arg^uing 

tending to the -^ ' c!> ' O O 

better ordering a^alnft thcii" Covcnant, and beeino^ eledled by fome of 

and well-being ^3 o j 

of themfeives, Wevmoiith to bc their Minifler, was compelled to recant 

and for other pol- -^ 

itique refpeds, fome words j one that made the eledlion, & ^ot hands to 

this is as much ^-^ 

astheyatNew- |-]-^g paper, was fined lo. pounds/^ and thereupon fpeaking 

England can juft- r 1 ' r ' VT I- i:) 

ly make of their ^ fcw croffc words, 5. pound more, and payed it downe 

Covenant, and >^ 1. \. j 

fome that are ju- prcfcnUy ; Another^° of them for faying one of the Minif- 

dicious among *■ ■' J o 

themfeives have ^gj-g q{ \^-^q g^y was a Brovvnlft, or had a Brownifticall 

acknowledged it : ■' 

And ' 

this, 

made and guided ^]^g aeiierall or quarter civill Courts. 

by good counfell, '-' ^ 

and held with dependance and concatenation upon fome Chiefe Church or Churches, may tend to much divifion and confu- 

fion, as is obvious to the underilanding of thofe that are but a little verfed in itudy of thefe points. 



,d yet, even head, aud for a fuppofed lie, was whipt: and all thefe by 

s, unlelle it be ^ ^ '■ ■> 



Ecclefia reg- 
nans. 



23 Touching the government of the Common- Weak there. 

"XTOne may now be a Freeman of that Commonwealth, 
•^ ^ being a Societie or Corporation, named by the 
name of the Governoiir, Dep2Lty Governour, and AJfift- 

was after his return, probably, that only ^15 was X.-^t-ix:' — Mafs. Rec, i. 

Lechford erafed the note made in his 252, 254, 258 ; IVinilirop, i. 288. 
earlier draught, — that at Aquedney, 80 " One of them named Brittaine." 

" is Mr. Lenthall, a minifter out of —M.H.S. MS. p. 27. James Britton 

office, and lives very poorly."— J/. " who had fpoken difrefpeftfully of the 

H.S. M.S. anfwer which was fent to Mr. Barnard 

79 John Smith, "a chief ftirrer in his book againft our church covenant, 

the bufmefs," was fined ^20, at the and of fome of our elders, and had 

March court, 1639. The fine not fided with Mr. Lenthall, etc., was 

being paid, the May court fined him openly whipped, becaufe he had no 

;^5 for contempt, and ordered him to eftate to anfwer, etc."— IVinthrop, i. 

be imprifoned till both fines fhould 289. The whipping did not produce 

be paid ; but " on his fubmiffion, and a thorough reformation of manners,— 

bringing in of his money," the court for Britton was hanged for adultery, 

remitted ^10 of the amount, " and fo March i, 1644.— /<J/^/., ii. 158, 159. 



N ewes from New-England. 59 

a7its of the Societie of the Mattachufets Bay in New Eng- 
land, unleffe he be a Church member amongft them. 
None have voice in eledlions of Governours, Deputy, and 
Affiftants ; none are to be Magiftrates, Officers, or Jury- 
men, grand or petite, but Freemen. The Minifters give 
their votes in all elections of Magiftrates. ^' Now the 
mofl of the perfons at New-England are not admitted of 
their Church, and therefore are not Freemefi, and when 
they come to be tryed there, be it for life or limb, name 
or eftate, or whatfoever, they muft bee tryed and judged 
too by thofe of the Church, who are in a fort their adver- 
faries : how equall that hath been, or may be, fome by 
experience doe know, others may judge. 

The manner of the ele6lions is this : At firft, the chiefe Ekaions of the 

Governour & 

Governour and Magiflrates were chofen in London, by chiefe Magif- 

^ ^ _ trates. 

ere6lion of hands, by all the Free-me7i of this Society. 
Since the tranfmitting of the Patent into New-England, 
the eledion is not by voices, nor eredion of hands, but 
by papers,^^ thus : 

81 The seven lines which follow (to firft inftance of an eledion by ballot, 
the end of the paragraph) are not in It would have been hard for the free- 
the M.H.S. MS. men to nerve themfelves to the point 

82 After the transfer of the govern- of difplacing their old benefador by 
ment to New England, eleclion of the cuftomary "ereaion of hands." — 
governor and affiftants continued to Palfrey, Hijl. of N. England, i. yj^. 
be made " by ereftion of hands " until In September, 1635, the General 
1634, when Dudley was chofen in the Court ordered, "that, hereafter, the 
place of Winthrop, " by papers." — deputyes to be chofen for the Generall 
Winthrop, i. 132. "This is the Courts flialbe eleded by papers, as 



6o Plaine dealing, 



The general! Court-ele6lory fitting, where are prefent 
24 in the Church, or meeting-houfe at | Bq/ion, the old Gov- 
ernour. Deputy, and all the Magiftrates, and two Depu- 
ties or Burgeffes for every towne, or at leafl one, all the 
Freemejt are bidden to come in at one doore, and bring 
their votes in paper, for the new Governour, and deliver 
them downe upon the table, before the Court, and fo to 
paffe forth at another doore. Thofe that are abfent, fend 
their votes by proxies.^^ All being delivered in, the votes 
are counted, and according to the major part, the old 
Governour pronounceth, that fuch an one is chofen Gov- 
ernour for the yeare enfuing. Then the Freemen, in like 
manner, bring their votes for the Deputy Governour, 
who being alfo chofen, the Governour propoundeth the 
Affiftants one after the other. New Affiftants are, of late, 
put in nomination, by an order of general Court, be- 
forehand to be confidered of:^'' If a Freeman give in a 

the Governor is chofen. " — J/^z/j. C^/. ^a Mafs. Records, i. 293. This 

Records, i. 157. order, giving the nomination of new 

83 In March, 1636, liberty was affiftants to the freemen, was made at 

granted to fuch freemen as, for the the General Court in May, 1640, after 

fafety of their towns, fhould be de- the eledion of Dudley. The year 

tained at home on the day of eledion, previous, the governor (Winthrop) 

" to fend their voices by proxy." The and magiftrates had given offence to 

next year, it was made "free and law- the freemen by nominating Emanuel 

full for all freemen to fend their votes Downing (Winthrop's brother-in-law) 

for eleclions by proxie the next Gen- and two others for eleclion as affifl- 

erall Courte in May, and fo for here- ants. A fufpicion " that the magif- 

after." — IVuithrop, i. 185; Mafs. trates intended to make themfelves 

Records, i. 166, 188. ftronger, and the deputies weaker, 



N ewes from New-E^igland. 6i 

blanck, that reje(5ls the man named ; if the Freeman 
makes any mark with a pen upon the paper which he 
brings, that ele6ls the man named ; then the blancks and 
marked papers are numbred, and according to the major 
part of either, the man in nomination ftands ele6led or 
rejeded. And fo for all the Affiftants. And after every 
new election, which is, by their Patent, to be upon the 
laft Wednefday in every Eafler Terme,^^ the new Gover- 
nour and Officers are all new fworn. The Governour 
and Affiflants choofe the Secretary. And all the Court 
confifting of Governour, Deputy, Affiftants, and Deputies 
of towns, give their votes as well as the reft; and the 
Minijlers, \ and Elders, and all Chu7'ch-officcrs, have their 25 
votes alfo in all thefe elections of chiefe Magiftrates. Con- 
ftables, and all other inferiour Officers, are fworn in the 
generall, quarter, or other Courts, or before any Affiftant. 

Every Free-man, when he is admitted, takes a ftri6t Freemen thei. 
oath, to be true to the Society, or jurifdidion : In which 



oath. 



and fo, in time, to bring all power into and i William IV. c. 70, (1830.) Eaft- 

[their own] hands," occafioned fome er term of court began two weeks 

oppofition to Winthrop's re-eleftion from the Wednefday after Eafter 

in 1639, and doubtlefs contributed to Sunday, and ended three weeks from 

effe6lhisdifplacementini64o. — Jr/;/- the Monday following. The begin- 

ihrop, i. 299, 300 ; ii. 342-3. ning of the term, varying as Eafter 

In Afa/s. Rec, i. 308, is a lift of fell earlier or later, ranged from April 

perfons" propounded for magiftrates" 8 to May 12; and the laft Wednef- 

by the freemen, in Oaober, 1640; day, from April 29 to June 2.— By 

with the number of votes by which the Maflachufetts charter of 169 1, the 

they were refpedively nominated. laft Wednefday of May was eftab- 

85 Before the ad of 1 1 George IV. liftied as the day of eleftion. 



62 Plaine dealings 



oath, I doe not remember expreffed that ordinary faving, 
which is and ought to be in all oathes to other Lords, 
Saving the faith and truth which I bcare to our Soveraigne 
Lord the King, though, I hope, it may be implyed. 
Courts and Laws. There are two generall Courts, one every halfe yeare, 
wherein they make Lawes or Ordinances : The Minifters 
advife in making of Laws, efpecially Ecclefiafticall, and 
are prefent in Courts, and advife in^^ fome fpeciall caufes 
criminall, and in framing of Fundamental] Lawes : But 
not many Fundamentall Lawes are yet eflabliflied : which, 
when they doe, they muft, by the words of their Charter, 
make according to the Laws of England, or not contrary 
thereunto.^^ Here they make taxes and levies. 

86 For "advife in," the M.H.S. and title of Z/^^r//>j-, and not in the 
MS. has, "in hearing." exafl form oi Laws or Statutes," and 

87 This was one of the "great rea- the General Court did not enaH them, 
fons . . . which caufed molt of the but " with one confent fully authorize 
magiftrates and fome of the elders and earneftly entreat all that are and 
not to be very forward in this matter" (hall be in authority to confider them 
of fundamental laws; "for that it as laws," and not to fail to inflift 
would profefTedly tranfgrefs the limits punifhment for every violation of 
of our charter, which provide, we them. — Z/(5'. 96 ; ^ Ma/s. Hi/l. Coll., 
fhall make no laws repugnant to the viii. 236. 

laws of England, and that we were At a later period, when the afcend- 

ajfjired we 7nujl do. But to raife up ency of the parliament was eftab- 

laws by praClice and cujlovi had been lithed, and MaiTachufetts was for the 

no tranfgreffion ; as in our church time reheved from apprehenfion of 

difcipline," &c. {Wmthrop, i. 323.) the lofs of her charter, the General 

The " Body of Liberties," adopted Court denied, with lefs referve, the 

December, 1641, was fo framed as, if authority of the laws of England, 

poffiblc, to avoid this difficulty. They They " did ever honor the parliament, 

were " expreffed only under the name and were ready to perform all due 



Newes from New-England. 63 

There are befides foure quarter Courts for the whole 
Jurifdi6lion, befides other petie Courts, one every quarter, 
at Bojloti, Salem, and Ipfwich, with their feverall jurifdic- 
tions, befides every towne, almofl;, hath a petie Court for 
fmall debts, and trefpaffes under twenty fliilHngs. 

In the generall Court, or great quarter Courts, before ^^J°"'^"'^ 
the Civill Magiftrates, are tryed | all actions and caufes 26 
civill and criminall, and alfo Ecclefiafticall, efpecially 
touching non-members : ^^And they themfelves fay, that 
in the generall and quarter Courts, they have the power 
of Parliament, Kings Bench, Common Pleas, Chancery, 
High Commiffion, and Star-chamber, and all other Courts 
of England, and in divers cafes have exercifed that power 
upon the Kings Subje6ls there, as is not difficult to prove. 
They have put to death, baniflied, fined men, cut off 
mens eares, whipt, imprifoned men, and all thefe for Ec- 
clefiafticall and Civill offences, and without fufficient re- 
cord. In the leffer quarter Courts are tryed, in fome, 
a6lions under ten pound, in Bojlo7t^'^ under twenty, and 

obedience, etc., to them according to binds us not to the laws of England 

our charter, etc. ; " but they rebuked any longer than while we live in Eng- 

Dr. Childs and his fellow-petitioners land, for the laws of the parliament 

in 1646, who "did impudently and of England reach no further," &c.— 

falfely affirm, that we are obliged to Ibid. 288. 

thofe laws [of England] by our gen- 88 The nine lines following (ending 

eral charter and oath of allegiance," with "fufficient record") are not in 

{Winthrop, ii. 285, 288,) and they the JVI.H.S. MS. 

explicitly declared, "our allegiance ^9 Mafs. Rec.,\. \6<^, 276. 



64 Plaine dealings 

all criminall caufes not touching life or member. 9° From 
the petie quarter Courts, or other Court, the parties may 
appeale to the great quarter Courts, from thence to the 
generall Court, from which there is no appeale, they fay: 
Notwithflanding, I prefume their Patent doth referve and 
provide for Appeales, in fome cafes, to the Kings Majefty. 
Grand Juries. Thc gcncrall and great quarter Courts are kept in the 

Church meeting-houfe at Bojlon. Twice a yeare, in the 
faid great quarter Courts held before the generall Courts, 
are two grand Juries fworne for the Jurifdicftion, one for 
one Court, and the other for the other, and they are 
charged to enquire and prefent offences reduced, by the 
Governour, who gives the charge, moft an-end, under the 
"^1 Heads of the te7i Commajidments : I '''And a draudit of 

I o 

90 Five lines following ("From the exa6t method," {IVinthrop, i. 202,) — 

petie . . . Kings Majefty.") are not which is perhaps the fame that was 

in the M.H.S. MS.— When Dr. Child again prefented to the November 

and his fellow-petitioners demanded Court in 1639, and printed in Eng- 

an appeal to England, in 1646, Gov. land in 1641, as "An Abftrad of the 

Winthrop " told them he would ad- Laws of New England as they are 

mit no appeal, nor was it allowed by now eftablifhed," (repr., i Mafs. Hijl. 

our charter ; " and the Court fuftained Coll., v. 171-192,) and in a more com- 

his judgment. — Winthrop, ii. 285, plete form, by William Afpinwall, in 

290- 1655 ; and another, framed by Nathan- 

9> Thirteen lines following (to the iel Ward, prefented November, 1639, 

end of the paragraph) are not in the and, with Mr. Cotton's, referred by the 

M.H.S. MS. Court to the governor and others "to 

At leaft two draughts of a body of confider of, and fo prepare it for the " 

fundamental laws had been prefented May Court, 16^0. — Wint/trop, i. 322. 

to the General Court: one by Mr. Thefe "two models were digefted with 

Cotton, in oaober, 1636,— "a copy divers alterations and additions, and 

of Mofcs his judicials, compiled in an abbreviated, and fent to every town 



Newes from New-England. 



65 



a body of fundamentall laws, according to the judiciall 
Laws of the Jews, hath been contrived by the Minijiers 
and Magijlrates, and offered to the generall Court to be 
eflabHflied and pubhflied to the people to be confidered 
of, and this fince his Majeflies command came to them to 
fend over their Patent :'^^ Among which Lawes, that was 
one I excepted againft, as you may fee in the paper fol- 
lowing, entituled, Of the CJmrch her liberties, prefented to 
the Governottr and Magiflrates of the Bay, 4. Mai'tii, 
1639.''^ Notwithflanding, a by-law, to that or the like 



(12), to be confidered of firfl: by the 
magiflrates and elders, and then to 
be publifhed by the conftables to all 
the people," &c. — Ibid. Comp. Afa/s. 
Rec, i. 379. Lechford was employed 
to tranfcribe the " breviats of propo- 
fitions " to be fent to the towns, (see 
p. 31, pojl^ and his Journal fliows 
that in January, 1639-40, he made for 
the governor "a coppie of the Ab- 
ftra6l of the Lawes of New England," 
and numerous copies of " the Lawes 
for the Country " and " the Breviat of 
the body of Lawes," in January and 
February. Mr. Ward wrote to Win- 
throp, Dec. 22, 1639 • " ^^ ^^- Lach- 
ford have writt them out, I would be 
glad to perufe one of his copies if I 
may receive them." — 4 Mafs. Hijl. 
Coll., vii. 27. Mr. Gray, in his excel- 
lent paper on the Early Laws of Maf- 
fachufetts, in 3 Mafs. Hi/l. Coll., viii. 
attributing the compofition of the 
Body of Liberties to Ward, (on the 

9 



authority of Winthrop,ii. 55,) remarks, 
that it "exhibits throughout the hand 
of the praftifed lawyer, familiar with 
the principles and the fecurities of 
Englifh Liberty." (p. 199.) Without 
detracting from whatever honor may 
be due to Mr.Wardforhis firft: draught, 
it is very poffible that while Lechford 
was tranfcribing the much revifed and 
amended " breviats," the " hand of a 
praftifed lawyer" left fome of its 
traces on his work. 

92 The lords commiffioners for for- 
eign plantations ordered, April 4, 
1638, that the patent fliould be fent 
over to them by the firft fhip. The 
demand was renewed the next year ; 
and a letter from Mr. Cradock, en- 
clofmg the order, was received by 
Winthrop before the meeting of the 
May Court— Winthrop, i. 269, 274, 
299; Hubbard, 268-271. Sec p. 34, 
pojl, and note 103. 

93 See p. Z^, po/l. 



66 Plaine dealing, 



effe6t, hath been made,'''* and was held of force there when 
I came thence : yet I confeffe I have heard one of their 
wifeft fpeak of an intention to repeale the fame Law. 
^■'^''*''- Matters of debt, trefpaffe, and upon the cafe, and equity, 

yea and of herefie alfo, are tryed by a Jury. Which 
although it may feeme to be indifferent, and the Magif- 
trates may judge what is Law, and what is equall, and 
fome of the chief Minifters informe what is herefie, yet the 
Jury may find a generall verdi61, if they pleafe ; and fel- 
dome is there any fpeciall verdid: found by them, with 
deliberate arguments made thereupon, which breeds 
many inconveniences. 

The parties are warned to challenge any Juryman be- 
fore he be fworn ; but becaufe there is but one Jury in a 
Court for tryall of caufes, and all parties not prefent at 
their fwearing, the liberty of challenge is much hindred,^^ 

94 March, 1635-6. — i^Az/y. Rec, i. before the church, in 1637, on the 
168. charge, that, " when a matter of difter- 

95 The hinderance was- not entirely ence between her and another was at 
removed by the Body of Liberties, the Court put unto the Jury, fhe ex- 
which fecured the right of challenge cepted againft two of the jury men," 
in all cafes ; but the challenge was not (members of the fame church with 
to be allowed unlefs the other jurors, herfelf,) "who were therefore offended, 
or the bench (as the challenger might and with them others alfo ; " and fhe 
elea), fliould find it " juft and reafona- was inftruaed, that, although the law 
ble." — 3 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., viii. 221. grants fuch exception in cafe of con- 
There was another hinderance to fanguinity or fome nigh relation, the 

the freedom of challenge which Lech- ground or reafon muft be fliowed to 
ford omits to mention. The wife of the judge of the court. And her alle- 
FrancisWefton, of Salem, was brought gation that one of the challenged 



Newes from New- England. 67 



and fome inconveniences doe happen thereby. Jurors are 
returned | by the Marfliall, he was at firft called the 
Bedle^^ of the Societie. Seldome is there any matter of 
record, faving the verdi6l many times at randome taken 
and entred, which is alfo called the judgment. ^^And for 
want of proceeding duly upon record, the government is 
cleerely arbitrary, according to the difcretions of the 
Judges and Magiftrates for the time being. And humbly 
I appeale to his royall Majefty, and his honourable and 
great Counfell, whether or no the proceedings in such 
matters as come to be heard before Ecclefiafticall Judges, 
be not fit to be upon Record ; and whether Regifters, 
Advocates, and Procurators, be not neceffary to affifl the 
poore and unlearned in their caufes, and that according 
to the warrant and intendment of holy Writ, and of right 
reafon. I have knowne by experience, and heard divers 
have fuffered wrong by default of fuch in Nciu-England. I 
feare it is not a little degree of pride and dangerous im- 

jurors was "all one with the party be Marfliall of the QowxV — Mafs. 

againfl her" appears to have been Rec, i. 74, 128. His fucceffor was 

regarded as an aggravation of her of- Edward Michelfon, of Cambridge, ap- 

itxiC&. — Rev. John Fijk's Notes, in pointed November, 16^7. — lb. 217. 
Coll. Effex Injlitute, i. 40, 41. 97 What follows, to the end of the 

96 The title of this officer was paragraph, (twenty lines,) is not found 

changed by theGeneralCourt,Septem- in the M.H.S. MS., at the corref- 

ber, 1634, when James Penn, who had ponding page, but is written in Ihort- 

been appointed in 1630 "a beadle to hand, as a marginal note, on p. 9, of 

attend upon the governor," &c., was the MS., correfponding to pp. 12, 13, 

granted a falary of ^^20 ; " his office to of the firft edition. 



68 



Plaine dealings 



providence to flight all former lawes of the Church or 
State, cafes of experience and precedents, to go hammer 
out new, according to feverall exigencies ; upon pretence 
that the Word of God is fufiEcient to rule us : It is true, 
it is fufficient, if well underftood. But take heede my 
brethren, defpife not learning, nor the worthy Lawyers of 
either gown, left you repent too late.''^ 



9S Lechford — forbidden '' to plead 
any man's caufe except his own," and 
only efcaping the Court's cenfure by 
"promifing to attend his calling, and 
7wt to meddle with controvef/ies,''' — 
had reafon to fpeak feelingly of the 
fmall efteem had for the legal profef- 
fion in MalTachufetts. There was 
very little encouragement for the 
future in the "Body of Liberties," 
which permitted "every man that 
findeth himfelf unfit to plead his own 
caufe in any court," to employ any 
man againll: whom the court doth not 
except, to help \nm, provided he give 
him no fee or reward for his pains.'''' 
— Lib. 26; 3 Mafs. Hijh Coll., viii. 
220. 

Mr. Cotton, in a fermon delivered 
early in 1640, took occafion, by way 
of " ufe," to drop a word of " reproof 
to unconfcionable Advocates ; " such 
as " bolfter out a bad cafe by quirks of 
wit, and tricks and quillets of Law." 
..." And for men that profefs Reli- 
gion (as many Lawyers do) to ufe 
their tongues as weapons of unright- 
eoufneffe unto wickednefs ... to 



plead in corrupt Caufes, and to rtrain 
the Law to that purpofe, w-ere I to 
fpeake in place where [fuch are ?] I 
fhould think it meet to fpeak more." 
But, he remarks, " I have not I thinke 
fo much caufe to fpeak of it here, but 
in moll: places of the world I might 
fpeak of it." — Expos, of \yh Chap, 
of Revelation, p. 163. 

^Ir. Ward, preaching before the 
General Court, in Alay, 1641, advifed 
" that magiftrates fhould not give pri- 
vate advice, and take knowledge of 
any man's caufe before it came to 
public hearing. This was debated 
after in the General Court ; " but fome 
of the magillrates oppofed the making 
a law to this eftecl, for divers reafons. 
" I. Becaufe we muft then provide law- 
yers to dire(5l men in their caufes. . . . 
4. [The private hearing by a magif- 
trate] prevents many difficulties and 
tedioufnefs to the court to underftand 
the caufe aright {no advocate being 
allowed, and the parties being not 
able, for the moft part, to open the 
caufe fully and clearly, efpecially in 
pubhc)."— ;f7;////rt^, ii. 36. 



beaten downe. 



A'tzjts frotn JVew-England. 69 

The parties in all caufes, fpeake themfelves for the 
moft part, and fome of the Magiftrates where they thinke 
caufe requireth, doe the part of Advocates without fee or 
reward. Mofl matters | are prefently heard, and ended 29 
the fame Court, the party defendant having foure dayes 
warning before ; but fome caufes come to be heard again, 
and new fuits grow upon the old. 

Profane fwearing, drunkenneffe, and beggers, are but Prophaneneffe 
rare in the compaffe of this Patent,^ through the circum- 
fpeclion of the Magiftrates, and the providence of God 
hitherto, the poore there living by their labours, and great 
wages, proportionably, better then the rich, by their ftocks, 
which without exceeding great care, quickly wafte. 

A Paper of certaine Propqfitions to the general! Court, 
made tipon rcqueft, 8. lunii, 1639. 

I. TT were good, that all actions betweene parties, were 
•*■ entred in the Court book, by the Secretar}-. before 
the Court fits. 

99 " One may live there from year to moft thefe twelve yeares ; am held a 

year, and not fee a drunkard, hear an verj- fociable man ; yet I may confi- 

oath, ormeetabeggar." — ."Wcc'^//^- derately fay, I never heard but one 

land's Firjl Fruits. " In feven years, Oath fworne, nor never faw one man 

among thoufands there dwelling, I drunk, nor ever heard of three women 

never faw any drunk, nor heard an AdulterelTes, in all this time, that I 

oath, nor [faw] any begging, nor Sab- can call to minde." — Ward's Sufiple 

bath broken." — Hugh Peters, Ca/e Cobbler of Agawam (1647) p. 67. 

impartially communicated, Sec. {1660). "There are none that beg, in the 

"I thank God, I have lived in a CoMnixty.'' — ]o^t\yn, Voyages, 1Z2. 
Colony of many thoufand English al- 



70 Plaiite dealings 



2. That every a6tion be declared in writing, and the 
defendants anfwer, generall or fpeciall, as the cafe fliall re- 
quire, be put in writing, by a pubhque Notarie, before 
the caufe be heard. 

3. The Secretary to take the verdi(fts, and make forth 
the judicial! Commands or Writs. 

4. The publique Notarie to record all the proceedings 
in a fair book, and to enter executions of commands done, 
& fatisfa6lions acknowledged. 

5. The fees, in all thefe, to be no more then in an in- 
feriour Court of Record in England, and to be allowed 
by the generall Court, or Court of Affiftants. 

30 T^i^ benefit hereof to the publique good. 

I. TT will give an eafie and quick difpatch to all Caufes: 
■*■ For thereby the Court and Jury will quickly fee 
the point in hand, and accordingly give their verdidl and 
judgment. 

2. The Court fliall the better know, conftantly, how to 
judge the fame things ; and it is not poffible, that the 
Judges fliould, alwayes, from time to time, remember 
clearly, or know to proceed certainly, without a faithfull 
Record. 

3. The parties may hereby more furely, and clearly ob- 
taine their right ; for through ignorance and paffion, men 
may quickly wrong one another, in their bare words, 
without a Record. 



Newes from New-England. 



71 



4. Hereby fliall the Law of God and Juftice be duly 
adminiflred to the people, according to more certaine and 
unchangeable rules, fo that they might know what is the 
Law, and what right they may look for at the mouthes of 
all their Judges. 

5. Hereby the Subje6ts have a great part of their evi- 
dences and affurances for their proprieties, both of lands 
and goods/°° 



100 What appears to be the original 
draught of thefe propofitions, with 
numerous erafures and amendments, 
is in Lechford's Journal, p. 57. He 
had there added, under the head of 
" The benefit hereof" &c., a fixth 
confideration : — 

" The people may alfo ufe the pub- 
lique notary in divers cafes, to the 
eafe of the magiftrates, and for mak- 
ing feverall writings, etc." 

Immediately after thefe propofi- 
tions, the writer made this note, in 
short-hand : — 

" The Court was willing to beftow 
employment upon me, but they faid 
to me that they could not doe it for 
feare of offending the Churches, be- 
caufe of my opinions. Whereupon I 
thought good to propofe unto them 
as followeth, over the leaf," — where 
he has inferted " Certaine Propofi- 
tions to the Generall Court, 11. 4. 
1639," which are printed in the Intro- 
du6lion to this volume. 

Though the Court did not fee fit 



to conflitute the office of public no- 
tary, and to give Lechford the em- 
ployment which he fought, the value 
of his fuggeftions was appreciated, and 
at the next Seffion (September, 1639), 
orders were made for recording judg- 
ments, "with all the evidence," — 
" wills, adminiftrations and invento- 
ries, as alfo of the dayes of every mar- 
riage, birth and death," — " all men's 
houfes and lands," — and " all the pur- 
chafes of the natives." Lechford's 
fchifmatical opinions on prophefying 
in the churches and the pofiibility of 
a coming Antichrift, continued to dif- 
qualify him for the public fervice ; and 
the Court infured the orthodoxy of 
the records by appointing Steven 
Winthrop (the governor's fourth fon) 
" to record things," and the next year 
(October, i64o)chofe Emanuel Down- 
ing to enter all bargains and fales of 
land, &c., at Salem, and Samuel Sy- 
monds at Ipfwich. — i^o/i". Records, 
i- 275-6, 306. 



72 Plaine dealings 



31 A Paper touching the Church her liberties, delivered at 

Bofton, 4. Martii, 1639. 

To the Right WorJJiipfull the Governour, Deputy Gover- 
nour, Councellers, and AJ/iJlants, for this yurifdi5lion. 

WHereas you have been pleafed to caufe me to tran- 
fcribe certain Breviats of Propofitions,'"' delivered 
to the laft generall Court, for the eftablifliing a body of 
Lawes, as is intended, for the glory of God, and the wel- 
fare of this People and Country ; and publiflied the fame, 
to the intent that any man may acquaint you, or the De- 
puties for the next Court, with what he conceives fit to 
be altered or added, in or unto the faid lawes ; I conceive 
it my duty to give you timely notice of fome things of 
great moment, about the fame Lawes, in difcharge of my 
confcience, which I fliall, as Amicus curicB, pray you to 
prefent with all faithfulneffe, as is propofed, to the next 

'°i See before, p. 27, and note 91. of the body of Lawes for the Country, 

Lechford's account-book and journal 12. 5. 1639: " "Three coppyes of the 

fliow that he delivered twelve copies foid breviat delivered to the Gover- 

of "the Lawes for the Country" in nor, befides the firft, 12. 12. 1639:" 

December, 1639; " Five copies more "OnecoppyddtoMr.B[ellingham?]:" 

... by the direftion of our Governor, " One coppy . . . delivered to Mr. Bel- 

II. 8. 1639; feven of them (and the lingham, w'h one copy of the origi- 

former) had 3 lawes more added:" nail Inftitution and Limitation of the 

"A coppie of the Abftraft of the Counfell, at 4s and 2s, 12. 17. 1639:'' 

Lawes of New England d^ to the Gov- and, near the end of the fame month 

ernor, II. 15. 1639:" [Was this Mr. (February, 1640), "Seven coppyes 

Cotton's, printed under the fame title more of the faid breviate." 
in 1641 ?] "A coppy of the breviat 



Newes from New-England. 



73 



generall Court, by it, and the reverend Elders, to be fur- 
ther confidered of, as followeth : '""^ 

1. It is propounded to be one chiefe part of the charge, 
or office of the Councell intended, to take care that the 
converjion of the Natives be endeavoured. 

2. It is propofed, as a liberty, that a convenient * num- 
ber of Orthodoxe Chriftians, | allowed to plant together 
in this Jurifdi6tion, may gather themfelves into a Church, 



32 



Althougl\ 
fonie have held 

and ele6l and ordaine their Officers, men fit for their 'i^^' *'>■"" ^^ 

two may make a 
Church, yet I have heard Mafler Cation fay, tliat a Church could not be without the number of fixe or feaven at leaft, 
and fo was their practife while I was there, at Weymoitth, and New Taunton, and at Lin, for Long IJlaitd ; Becaufe if 
there are but three, one that is offended with another, cannot upon caufe tel the Church, but one man. ' "■-' 



102 The claufe to which Lechford 
objecls, and which agrees in fub- 
ftance with a provifion of the order 
of March, 1636, {Ma/s. Rec, i. 168,) is 
not found in the Body of Liberties, as 
printed by Mr. Gray, 3 Ma/s. Hijl. 
Coll., viii., from the MS. copy in the 
Athenaeum. It may have been omit- 
ted on the revifion of thefe laws in 
December, 1641, {IVitithrop, ii. 55,) 
or on the fubfequent revifion made 
by order of the Court in 1644, by 
Winthrop, Dudley, and Hibbens. 
{Ma/s. Rec.,n. 61.) The "Declara- 
tion of the Liberties given to the 
Churches," {Body 0/ Lib., 96, §1,) 
aflures to " all the people of God with- 
in this Jurifdiction who are not in a 
church way, and be orthodox itijndg- 
vient . . . full libertie to gather them- 
felves into a Church eftate. Provided 
they do it /;/ a Cliri/lian way, with 
due obfervance of the rules of Chrill," 
10 



etc. Lib. 58 declares that " the Civill 
Authoritie hath power and libertie to 
fee the j>eace, ordinances and Rules 
of Chrift obferved in every Church, 
according to his word, fo it be done 
in a civil and not in an ecclefiafticall 
way." 

In Welde's An/zvcr to W. Rath- 
band, {Y^owd.., 1644,) he fays, "There 
was a time in Nciv-England (for fome 
few years fpace) before fuch a law 
was made, and then Churches did ufe 
to gather without any notice given to 
Magiflrates or other Churches. But 
after the opinions grew on, and expe- 
rience difcovered the danger, there 
was a law made that none mufl con- 
ftitute any Church but firft give notice 
thereof to Magiftrates and Churches, 
and fince that this courfe is duly ob- 
ferved." P. 32. 

102* See Cotton's Way 0/ the 
Churches, p. 53. 



74 Plaine dealing. 



places, giving notice to feven of the next Churches, one 
moneth before thereof, and of their names, and that they 
may exercife all the ordinances of God according to his 
Word, and fo they proceede according to the rule of God, 
and fliall not be hindered by any Civill power ; nor will 
this Court allow of any Church otherwife gathered. 

This claufe {nor will the Court allow of any Church 
otherwife gathered) doth as I conceive contradi6l the 
firft proportion. 

My reafons are thefe. 

1. If the converfion of tJu Natives muft be endeavoured, 
then fome wife and godly men (they fhould be of your 
gravefl and befl men) muft bee fent forth to teach them to 
know God. 

2. When fuch are fent, they muft bee either fent im- 
mediately by the Lord, or mediately by his Churches. 

3. If the Churches fend men, they that are fent muft 
be fent by impofttion of hands of the Prefbytcrie. 



33 



Now when Churches are thus gathered or planted, they 
are gathered by Miniflers, doing the works of Apoflles 
and Euangelifls, which hath ever been, and is the ordi- 

. nary and regtilar way of gathering or planting 
Churches, (and not as is propofed, a C07tvenie7it number 
of Orthodoxe Chriflians, gathering themfelves into a 
Church) and yet when fuch a Church is gathered by 



Newcs from New-England. 75 

Church-mcjfengcrs and Minijlers, this Court is ad- 
vifed not to allozu the fame ; which, I conceive, is to 
fay. The converfion of the Natives fiall not be endeav- 
oured, orderly, according to the rule of God. 

Againe, it would be confidered, that when men are fent 
forth, whether they fliould not be fent forth two, and by 
two at leafl, as the Scriptures beare, and for divers good 
reafons, which lye not hid to your wifdomes. 

That you would be pleafed to fliew unto the Elders 
thefe things to be confidered, and that they would well 
weigh, whether or no thofe Miniflers and Meffengers fent 
by Churches, fliould not vifit the Churches which they 
plant ? 

Other things there are, wherein, I think, I could alfo, to 
good purpofe, move fomew hat to your WorfJiips, which 
lyes more direBly in the way, and calling, I have been 
educated, if I were required, but this thing lying upon 
my confcience, / could not well paffe by : Wherefore 
IfJiall requefl it may be confidered. 

1. Whether it be not fit to leave out, at leafl. | that 34 
contradictory claufe, viz. Nor will this Court allow of any 
Church otherwife gathered? 

2. Whether it be not better to let the liberty run thus, 
in generall, 

The holy Church of Godfhall enjoy all her jufl liberties ? 



76 Plaine dealings 



A Paper i7itended for the honoured John Winthrop, 
Esqinre^ late Governour. Bojton, Mail 2. 1640. 

TF you fee a neceffity of baptizing them without, If an 
■*■ ingagement oi Propagation of the truth to the Infidel 
Natives : 

Then confider, whether by the Kings leave, fome 
Churches may not be appointed to fend their chiefe Paf- 
tors, and other Minifters, to doe fuch works. 

Alfo, with fome kind of fubjedlion, or acknowledge- 
ment of authority of the Minifterie in £ngtand, if it be 
but by way of advice, which is cleare to me you may doe : 

I make no doubt but in all things requifite for the flate 
of the Country, they will yeeld you all faire liberties. 

Nay, I am perfwaded, the Kings Majefty will not fend 
any unexperienced Governour to afifli(5l, but make you 
Patentees againe, or at leaft, after the manner of other 
Plantations, reftoring not onely favour, but other benefits, 
whereof, under God, to us EngliJJimen, he is the Foun- 
taine. The Kings Attorney did offer fome of you this in 
my hearing, I meane, the renewall of your Patent.'"^ 

103 When and where could this offer Mewtis, clerk of the Council. The 

have been made, in Lechford's hear- repetition of the demand, in 1639, 

ing ? The demand for the return of with " threats of further courfe to be 

the patent to England, made by the taken " in the event of non-compli- 

Commiffioners for the plantations, ance, was received in a letter from 

April 4, 1638, was communicated to Mr. Cradock, and " not being deliver- 

Gov. Winthrop by letter from Thomas ed by a certain vieffenger, as the for- 



Newes from New-England, 77 

Nay further, if you would invent, and devife what the 35 
King may doe for the Country, you might obtaine. 

The very converfion of thefe poore naked people, 
which is very hopefull, and much prepared for per acci- 
dens, or Gods owne providence, bringing good out of 
evill, will rejoyce the hearts of all Chriftians in our deare 
native Countrey, and here : and of it felfe (if there were 
no other defirable things here, as bleffed be God there 
are many) would caufe a continued confluence of more 
people then you can tell well where to beftow for the 
prefent. 

The Fifliing trade would be promoted with authority. 

Hereby would you give the greater teftimony to the 
caufe of Reformation. 

Hereby will you, under God and the King, make 

mer was,'" no reply was returned, Who was the " certain meffenger " 

and precautions were taken that the to New England in 1638, we are not 

commiffioners "could not have any told. There is, at leaft, ground for 

proof that it was delivered to the conjefture, that John JofTelyn, Gent, 

governor." IVinthrop, i. 269, 274, who failed from London three weeks 

299; Hubbard, 268-271; 4 Ma/s. after the date of the Commiffioners' 

Hi/l. Coll., vi. 129. Winthrop and order, landed at Noddle's likind, and 

the records are filent as to any fub- was the gueft of Maverick July 10, 

fequent renewal of the demand, or went to Bofton the day following, and 

any interview with " the King's Attor- "prefented his refpeds to Mr. Win- 

ney." It is poffible that Lechford throp the Governour, and to Mr. 

alludes to fomething which paffed in Cotton," and next morning failed for 

England, on the trial of the ^w^wrt:;-- Black Point, in U^nQ, {Voyages, i, 

rrz«% or after judgment was rendered 12, 20,) and who was in the intereft 

againft the patentees, in 1636, and of Sir Ferd. Gorges, — was charged 

before his coming to this country. with this fervice. 



yS Plaine dealing, 



Church-work, and Common-wealth work indeed, and ex- 
amples to all Countryes. 

You will enrich your Countries both, in fliort time. 
The Heathens in time, I am perfwaded, will become zeal- 
ous Chriflians, then will they labour, get cloathes, and 
fubftance about them. In vaine doe fome think of civiliz- 
ing them, either by the fword, or otherwife, till (withall) 
the Word of God hath fpoken to their hearts: wherein I 
conceive great advice is to be taken. 

For which purpofe a Preffe is neceffary,'°'* and may be 
obtained, I hope, fo that wife men watch over it. 
36 Confider how poorely your Schooles goe on, | you muft 

depend upon Englajtd for help of learned men and Schol- 
lers, bookes, commodities infinite almofl:. 

No doubt but the King, this way, will make your 
authority reach even to the Dutch Southward, and to the 
French Northward. New-England indeede without frac- 
tion. A facile way, taking out the core of malice. 

The conveHion and fubduing of a Nation, and fo great 
a tra6l of ground, is a y/ork too weighty for fubjedls any 
much longer to labour under without Royall affiflance, as 
I apprehend, I think, in religious reafon. 

'04 The prefs was already obtained, fome fpeciall things." — 4 Mafs. Hiji. 

thanks to the hberality and forefight C<?//., vi. 99. The " Book of Pfah-nes " 

of Rev. Joffe Glovtr.— Wmthrop, bears the imprint of 1640, and muft 

i. 289. "Wee have a printery here," have been in prefs, if not completed, 

wrote Hugh Peters, Dec. 10,1638, when this "paper " of Lechford's was 

"and thinke to goe to worke with written. 



Newcs from New-England. 79 

If any fhall fuggeft, that your Churches may fend forth 
men of their own authority; 

Confider, if it may be done warrantably by the Word 
of God, as peradventure it may be fo. 

Yet you will be in danger, reb7is Jic Jiantibus, of great 
imputations. 

That you infringe Regall power, 
And EcclefiafticalL 

Wheron adverfaries will fure enough make fearfull 
worke. 

And befides, fome reformations (under favour) have 
been too deep, at leait for others to follow. 

They were alfo unexperienced of miffion to convert 
Infidels. 

Is Geneva without her faults ? or Holland, Rotterdam, 
A mjlerdam, vi\t\\o\xi theirs.? what experience have they 
of miffion, or ever had } 

Now I befeech you grave Sir, doe you thinke it good, 
honourable, fafe, for us poore men here, | or for the Reli- 37 
eion and Profeffors thereof in generall, in the whole 
world, that fuch as have the name of the moft zealous, 
ffiould be the firft example of almoft utmoft provocation 
to our owne Soveraigne .'* 

For my part, I difclaime Parker'"^ 

los Robert Parker, whom Mather the non-conformifts in our age," and 
calls "in fome fort the father of all "one of the greateft fcholars in the 



8o 



Plaine dealino-, 



And encline to Hooker, Iewel'°^ as to government. 
Great men have great burthens, therefore they have 
their counfels croffe, and fometimes they ufe them both. 
You heare enough on the other fide, 
Heare now this, on this, and the Lord guide your fpirit. 
Odere Reges diHa, qucs did J2ibcnt,^°'^ 



Englifli nation," and whom Cotton 
{Way of the Churches Cleared, pt. i. 
p. 13) names firft of the "gracious 
faints and faithfull witnelTes " through 
whofe teaching the Congregationahfts 
of New England received "the chief 
doftrines and praflices of [their] way, 
fo far as it diiTereth from other re- 
formed churches," was, in 1571, rec- 
tor of North Binfleet, in EiTex ; next 
year, at Weft Henningfield, and fubfe- 
quently at Dedham, in the fame coun- 
ty. Sufpended from his miniftry for 
refufmg to fubfcribe Whitgift's three 
Articles (1584), he removed to Wilton, 
in Wiltlhire. He was compelled to 
leave England in confequence of his 
publication, in 1607, oi A Scholajlicall 
Difcourje againjl Sytiibolizing ivith 
Antichrijt in Ceremonies, etc. He 
went to Holland, — was for a time at 
Leyden, in the companionfliip of Dr. 
Ames and Henry Jacob, — afterwards 
at Amfterdam ; and died about 1614. 
Two years after his death was pub- 
lifhed his treatife De Politeia Ecclefi- 
ajlica Chrijli et Hierarchia oppofita, 



libri tres. (Francof 1616, 4to.) In 
this he maintained the doftrine "that 
the vifible Church inftituted by Chrift 
and his Apoftles, to which the Keys 
are given, is not a Diocefan, or Pro- 
vincial, or National Affembly, but a 
particular Co7igregationy (See Cot- 
ton's Way Cleared, pt. ii. p. 23.) 

i°6 Richard Hooker, author of the 
famous treatife Of the Laws of Ec- 
clefiajiical Polity; and John Jewel, 
Bifliop of Salisbury, who wrote tlie 
not lefs famous Apologia Eccleftce 
Aiiglicance, firft publifhed in 1562. In 
his preface, (chap. i. § 2,) Hooker de- 
clares, " as [his] final refolute perfua- 
fion : Surely the prefent form of 
church-government which the laws 
of this land have eftablifhed is fuch, 
as no law of God nor reafon of man 
hath hitherto been alleged of force 
fufficient to prove they do ill, who to 
the uttermoft of their power with- 
ftand the alteration thereof" — Works, 
(Keble, 4th ed.) i. 127. 

107 Seneca, CEdipus, aft. 3. 520. 



Newes from New-Engla7id. 



Thefe are the Mini/iers of the Bay. 

A T Bojlon, m after Cotton Teacher, mafter Wit/on Paf- 
^ ^ tor: At Roxbury, mafter Weld^°^ Paftor, mafter ^'■"''^"' "'*"'^' 
Eliott Teacher : At Dorchejler, mafter Mather Paftor or 
Teacher, and Mafter Btirgh '°^ out of ojffice : At Braintree, 
Mafter Thomfon Paftor, Mafter Flint Teacher :"° At 
Weymouth, Mafter Neivman Paftor, Mafter Parker out of 
office:"' At Hmgham, mafter Hubbard Paftor, mafter 



•°s Thomas Weld failed for Eng- 
land, on a miffion for the Colony, 
Aug. 3, 1641, in the fame veffel with 
Lechford, and did not return again to 
Maffachufetts. Winthrop, ii. 25, 31. 
Hubbard (371) says that "he had 
given the greateft encouragement of 
any man elfe for invitation of his 
friends to come over to New England, 
yet it was obferved true of him, 
which fome note of Peter the hermit, 
who founded an alarum and march to 
all other Chriftians, to the Holy Land, 
but a retreat to himfelf " 

In Oftober, 1645, the General 
Court "defired [his] prefence here, 
and fpeedy return." {Ma/s. Rec, ii. 
137.) The defire was not gratified. 
Mr. Weld became the minifter of St. 
Mary, Gatefliead, Co. Durham, and 
died in England, 23d March, 1661. — 
Savage's Geneal. Dicl. 

lO') Jonathan Burr came to New 
England in 1639, ^""^j after having 
been received a member of the church 
in Dorchefter, was called to ofiice as 



the affiftant of Richard Mather. Be- 
fore the call was accepted, fome un- 
guarded expreffions, "favoring of 
familifm," awakened apprehenfions of 
Mr. Burr's orthodoxy, and " the Evil 
One, difturbed at the happinefs of 
Dorchefter, very ftrongly endeavoured 
a Mifn7idt'rjlanding between Mr. 
Mather and Mr. Burr, and the Mif- 
tinderjlaiiding did proceed fo far as 
to produce a Paroxi/m.''^ — Magnalia, 
b. iii. pt. 2. c. 3. Of the treatment 
and happy compofure of the paroxyfm, 
fee the Magnalia, 1. c, and IVint/irop, 
ii. 23. Mr. Burr died Aug. 9, 1641, 
(a few days after Lechford failed from 
Bofton.) He was a graduate of Cor- 
pus Chrifti College, Cambridge, and, 
before coming to New England, had 
been a minifterat Ricking(hall [Rick- 
inghall,] co. Suffolk. — Savage's Gen- 
eal. Did. 

■ 10 See before, p. 15, note 42. 

II > See before, p. 22, and note 78. 
The Rev. Samuel Newman fucceeded 
Thomas Jenner at Weymouth, and 



Plaine dealing, 



Peck Teacher: They refufe to baptize old Ottis grand- 
children, an ancient member of their own Church."^ At 
Charlcjiowne, ^2&.q.x Symms Paflor, mafter^//^;/ Teacher: 
At Cambridge, mafter Sheppard Paftor, mafter Dunjler 



became pallor of tlie church, which, 
after one or more unfuccefsful trials, 
was at laft "gathered with approba- 
tion of magillrates and elders," Jan- 
uary 30, 1639. — Mr. James Parker, 
"a godly man and a fcholar," had 
lived in Dorchefter, removed to Wey- 
mouth, and was a deputy from that 
town to the General Court, 1639-42. 
He afterwards preached for fome 
years at Portfmouth, but was not 
fettled in the miniftry there. — See 
IVinthrop, ii. 93 ; Savage's Geneal. 
Did. 

"2 Of Rev. Peter Hobart, "a man 
well qualified with miniflerial abilities, 
though not fo fully perfuaded of the 
Congregational difcipline as fome 
others were," (as Hubbard judged, p. 
192,) see the memoir in the Rlag- 
7ialia, b. iii. pt. 4. c. i., and Savage's 
note to Winthrop, ii. 223. 

Robert Peck was a graduate of 
Magdalen College, Oxford, (A. M., 
1603,) and had been minifter at Hing- 
ham, CO. Norfolk, for more than thirty 
years before he came to New Eng- 
land in 1638. He was ordained 
teacher of the church in our Hing- 
ham, Nov. 8, 1638; but returned 
home in 1641, refumed his reftory in 
old Hingham in 1646, and died there 



in 1656. — IVinthrop, i. 275; Mag- 
nah'a, b. iii. pt. 4. c. i ; Blomefield's 
//{/?. of Nirrfolkjltire, ii. 424, 425 ; 
Brook's Lives, iii. 263. 

John Otis, born about 1581, at 
Glaftenbury, co. Somerfet, came to 
New England in 1635, and was one 
of the fettlers of Hingham in that 
year. His daughter Hannah, wife of 
Thomas Gill, had tzuo children bap- 
tized the fame day, January, 1644, 
one of whom may have been born 
before Lechford wrote. Another 
daughter, Margaret, wife of Thomas 
Burton, had a daughter baptized May 
30, 1641. — Savage's Geneal. Dicl.j 
N. E. Geneal. Reg., v. 223. A few 
years afterwards this Thomas Bur- 
ton, "a fojourner, and of no vifible 
eftate in the country," was a figner, 
with Dr. Child, Fowle, Maverick, and 
others, of that famous petition to the 
General Court for the redrefs of fun- 
dry grievances, one of which was 
that of being, " themfelves and their 
children, debarred from the feals of 
the covenant, except they would fub- 
mit to fuch a way of entrance and 
church covenant, as their confciences 
would not admit." See Winthrop, 
ii. 261, 262 ; Hutchinfon's Colleflion, 
188-196. 



Newes from New-England. 



83 



School-mafter ; "^ divers young Schollers are there under 
him to the number of almoft twenty : At Watertowne, 
mafler Phillips \ Paftor, mafter Knolls Paflor:"'* At Ded- 
ham, another mafler Phillips''^ out of office, and mafter 
Allen Paftor or Teacher: At Sudbury, mafter Brown''^ 
in office, mafler Fordkam^''' out of office: At Lynne, maf- 



38 



"3 See after, pp. 52, 53. Before 
Plaine dealing was publiflied, " Maf- 
ter Dunjlcr, School-mafter," became 
Prefident of Harvard College. 

"4 Rev. John Knowles, "a godly 
man and a prime fcholar," vi^as or- 
dained paftor, at Watertown, Dec. 
9, 1640, as colleague of Mr. Phillips : 
"and fo they had now two paftors 
and no teacher, differing from the 
pra6lice of the other churches," &c. 
— Winthrop. ii. 18. 

"S Rev. John Phillip, who had been 
re6lor of Wrentham (co. Suffolk), in 
England, and had married a fifter of 
the great puritan divine. Dr. William 
Ames, was at Dedham in 1638. He 
declined feveral invitations to the 
work of the miniftry in Maffachufetts, 
and returned home in the autumn 
of 1641, — failing from Bofton, 061. 
27, in the fhip with John Humfrey, 
Rev. Robert Peck, and two other 
minifters. He was a member of the 
Weftminfter alTembly of divines. — 
Winthrop, ii. 86 ; Savage, Gencal- 
Diff.; Calamy {Contin.), ii. 797. 

Rev. John Allin, the firft minifter 
of Dedham (ordained April 24, 1639), 



had alfo been a preacher at Wrentham 
in England. — Savage, Geneal. Did. 
His " virtues and merits," fays Ma- 
ther, " were far from the fmalleft fize, 
among thofe who ' did worthily in 
Ifrael.' " — Magnalia, b. iii. pt. 2. 
ch. 22. 

"6 Rev. Edmund Browne came to 
New England in 1637 or '38, and was 
ordained minifter of the church gath- 
ered at Sudbury, in Auguft, 1640. By 
a power of attorney which he execut- 
ed in July, 1639, it appears that he 
was then of Watertown, and had 
married the widow of John Loverum 
(or Loveran). — Lechford's MS. Jour- 
nal, 87. 

117 Robert Fordham, who was for a 
fliort time at Cambridge, and after- 
wards at Sudbury, removed to Long 
Ifland, where, early in 1644, he was a 
principal planter at Hempftead, and 
is firft named in the patent for that 
townftiip granted by Gov. Kieft, in 
November of the fame year. He was 
fubfequently fettled at Southampton. 
— Savage, Geneal. Ditl.; Brodhead's 
Hijl. ofN. York, i. 388 ; Doc. Hijh of 
N. Y. (8vo.) iii. 189. 



84 



Plaine dealing. 



ter Whiting Pafhor, mafter Cobbett Teacher: At Salem, 
mailer Peter Paftor,"^ mafter Norris Teacher, and his 
Sonne a Schoole-mafter: At Ipfzuich, mafler Rogers Paftor, 
mafter Norton Teacher, and mafler Nathaniel Ward, and 
his fonne,"^ and one Mafter Knight, out of employment : 
At Rowley, Mafter Ezek. Rogers Faftor, Mafter Miller: "° 



"8 Hugh Peters failed for England 
in the fame fhip with Lechford, Aug. 
3, 1641. Rev. Edward Norris, or- 
dained teacher at Salem, March 18, 
1640, remained in office there until 
his death, Dec. 23, 1659. — Sav- 
age, Geneal. Dul. His fon Edward 
was fchool mafter from 1640 to 1676, 
and died in 1684. Rev. John Fifk, 
who had taught a fchool at Salem, 
and occafionally preached there be- 
tween 1637 and 1640, removed to 
Wenham before Lechford wrote. — 
Ibid. 

"9 John Ward, educated at Em- 
manuel College, Cambridge, came to 
New England in 1639, affifted Mr. 
Rogers, at Rowley, for a fhort time, 
and in the winter of 1639-40, with his 
brother-in-law, Giles Firmin, was 
projefting the fettlement of a planta- 
tion at Pentuckett or Cochichawick. 
March 23, 1 641, Thomas Gorges wrote 
from Acomenticus (York, Me.) to Gov. 
Winthrop : " We have fent younge 
Mr. Ward of Newbury a call. I hope 
the Lord will be affifting to us in it ; " 
and Winthrop tells how, in the fpring 
of 1641, Ward, going from Pafca- 



taquack to Acomenticus, with Hugh 
Peter and Mr. Dalton, loft his way, 
and "wandered two days and one 
night without food or fire." He re- 
turned to MaflTachufetts, fettled at 
Haverhill before 1642, and, on the 
gathering of the church there, was or- 
dained paftor, in Oilober, 1645. — 
Winthrop, ii. 29, 252 ; Mafs., Rec. i. 
290 : Hutch. Colleclion, 108 ; 4 Ma/s. 
Hijl. Coll., vii. 274, 334 ; Chafe, Hijl. 
of Haverhill, yj, 39, 58. (See after, 

P- 45-) 

"Mafter Knight'''' is not named in 
the Hift. Society's MS. This was 
Rev. William Knight, who had lately 
come to Ipfwich, where he had a 
grant of land in 1639. He began to 
preach at the New Meadows (Topf- 
field), in 1641, but returned to Eng- 
land before 1648. — Savage, Geneal. 
Din. 

'2o John Miller, a graduate of Cam- 
bridge (A.B. 1827), was at Dorchefter 
in 1636; afterwards, of Roxbury; 
minifter at Rowley, 1639, as affiftant 
or colleague of Mr. Rogers, and firft 
town clerk there. He was defignated 
by the elders in 1642, (with George 



Newes from New-England. 



85 



At Newberry, Mailer Noyfe Paflor, Mafter Parker 
Teacher:'^' He is fonne of Mafter Robert Parker, fome- 
time of Wilton, in the County of Wiltes, deceafed, who in 
his life time writ that mif-learned and miflaken Book De 
Politeia Ecclefiajlica.^''- At Salifbury, Mafter Worjler^''^ 
Paftor: At Hampton, Mafter Bae/iellor''' Paftor, Mafter 



Phillips and William Tompfon,) for 
the miffion to Virginia, but did not ac- 
cept the call. He fubfequently removed 
to Yarmouth, where he preached for 
a fhort time, but appears to have been 
living at Roxbury again in 1647, and 
died at Groton, June 12, 1663. — 
Winthrop, ii. 78 ; Hubbard, 410 ; 
Johnfon, W. W. Providence, b. ii. c. 
1 1 ; Savage, Geneal. Dhl. 

121 Thomas Parker, and his coufm 
James Noyes, had taught in the fame 
fchool in Newbury (co. Berks), Eng- 
land ; " came over in o}ie Ship; were 
paftor and teacher of one Church; 
and Mr. Parker continuing always in 
Celibacy, they lived in one Houfe, till 
death feparated them for a time." — 
Rev. Nich. Noyes, in Magnalia, b. iii. 
pt. 2. c. 25. 

122 See before, p. y], note 105. 

123 WiUiam Worfter was the firft 
minifter of the new plantation " begun 
upon the north fide of Merrimack, 
called Sarisbury, now (1639) Colchef- 
ter," — ordered " henceforward to bee 
called Salsbury," by the General 
Court in Oftober, 1640. Winthrop, 
i. 289 ; Mafs. Rec, i. 305. He is fup- 



pofed to have come to New England 
in 1639; w^s admitted freeman May 
13, 1640; and cHed 061. 28, 1663. — 
Savage's Geneal. Diil. 

124 Winthrop records the arrival of 
"old Mr. Batchelor, being aged 
71," a fellow-paffenger with Thomas 
Welde, June 5, 1632 ; and elfe where 
gives account of his troubles at Lynn ; 
his unfuccefsful attempt to eftablilh a 
plantation at Mattakeefe (Yarmouth), 
in 1637 ; his fall and penitence at 
Hampton, in 1641 ; and of the ftop 
put by the General Court, on the 
gathering of a new church at Exeter, 
in 1644, to which he was to be called 
as paflor (i. 78, 176, 260; ii. 44, ^11-, 
211). From 1647 to 1650, he was at 
Portfmouth ; returned to England in 
1653 or '54 ; and died at Hackney, near 
London, in 1660, in the one hundredth 
year of his age. See Savage's note 
to Winthrop, i. 78 ; Mafs. Rec, i. 100, 
103, 236; Lewis, Hijl of Lynn (2d 
ed.) 78, 92-97. Several of his letters 
are printed from the Winthrop pa- 
pers, in 4 J/rt/jr. HiJl. Coll., vii. 88-109. 

Mr. Bachiler, and his colleague at 
Hampton,— Rev. Timothy Dalton, — 



86 Plaine dealing, 



names. 



Dalton Teacher: There are other School-mafters which 
I know not, in fome of thefe townes.'-^ 

The Magijlrates in the Bay are thefe : 

Magiftrates Maftcr BelHugham the prefent Governour, mafler En- 

decot the prefent Deputy Governour, mafter Wi^ithrop, 
mafler Dudley, mafler Htim/rey, mafter Saltonjlall, mafler 
Bradjlrcat, mafler Stoughton, mafler VVinthrop junior, 
mafler Nowell, Affiiftants. Mafler Nowell is alfo Secre- 
tarie. Mafter Stephen Winthrop is Recorder, whofe oflfice 
is to record all Judgments, Manages, Births, Deaths, 
Wills and Teflaments, Bargaines and Sales, Gifts, Grants, 
39 and Mortgages.'^'' There is a MarJImll;'' \ who is as a 
Sheriff e ox Bailiff e, and his Deputy is the Gaoler^~^ sca^ 
executioner. 

Marriages are folemnized and done by the Magiflrates,''^ 



Marriages. Tef- 
taments. Admin- 
iflrat. Burials. 



were by no means fo well agreed as '^s Richard Bracket was " ap- 

were the two minifters of Newbury, pointed to keepe the prifon," and "to 

See Winthrop, ii. 45, 177, and 4 bee at the commandment of the ma- 

Mafs. Hijl. Coll., vii. 102. giftrates for any fpecial fervice," by 

125 Lechford omitted to name the the General Court, November, 1637. 

minifters of Concord, where the em- In 1639, his falary was increafed to 

inent Peter Bulkley was teacher, and £20 per annum. — J/^. Rec, 1.217, 

John Jones paftor. Mr. Jones re- 260. 

moved to Fairfield, Conn., with feveral 129 John Robinfon (in A Jiijllfica- 

of his parhhioners, in September, tion of Separation, &c., p. 352) 

1644. — Savage, Geneal. Diil.j Win- refers to " almoft twenty feverall fcrip- 

throp, i. 167, 189, 217; ii. 71. tures [cited in his Apology, ch. vi.], 

"6 See before, p. 30, note 100. and nine diftind reafons grounded 

"7 See before, p. 28, note 96. upon them, to prove that the celebra- 



Newes from New-England. 



87 



and not by the Miniflers. * Probats of Teftaments, and 



and other Eccle- 
fiafticall caufes, 
have been an- 



but all the neighbourhood, or a good company of them, 



* Caufes touch- 
ing Matrimonie, 

erantinor of Letters of Adminiftration, are made and ^"^ Teamen's. 

O o ' and other Eccle- 

granted in the generall or great quarter Courts. At 

Burials, nothingr is read, nor any Funeral Sermon made, '''^""^, ^^ "'^, 

' o ' J good lawes of 

England, com- 
mitted to the 
Clergie, upon 
better grounds then many are aware of Brethren, I pray confider well that the Apoftle doth allow judgements of contro- 
verfies to the Church, i Cor. 6. And fo they did anciently in other countries, as well as in England, as appeares by S. 
A ugufthiL's profeffion thereof, cited by one lately, viz. Tliat he (the faid Father, and other holy men of the Church) fuf- 
fered the tumuHuous perplexities of other mens caufes touching; fecuhir affaires, either by determining; them hy jndging, 
or in cutting theiii off hy etitreaties: Which labour (faith he) ive endure with confolation in the Lord, for the hope of 
eternall life. To which moleftations, the Apoftle tyed us, not by his owne Judgement, but by his judgement 7uhofpake in 
him. Befides, fhould they judge thefe things, and labour for, and watch over us in the Lord, and not be recompenced as 
long as they doe well ? I speak not to countenance undue exactions, bribes, or other corruptions. I intend brevity, and 
therefore make bold to refer my Reader to the many learned arguments both in Law-books and Divinity of this subjeft. 



tion of marriage, the buryall of tlie 
dead, afe not ecclefiajlicall anions, 
apperteyiiing to the viinijlry^ but 
civill, and fo to be performed ; " and 
argues that " the proper works of the 
miniftry muft needes be workes of re- 
ligion," while "thefe are civill duties, 
and fo pra6lifed by the fervants of 
God in all ages." In Maffachufetts, 
it was not deemed advifable " to make 
a law, that marriage fliould not be 
folemnized by minifters," becaufe this 
would be " repugnant to the laws ot 
England ; " but due care was taken 
" to bring it to a cnflom, by praftice, 
for the magiftrates to perform it." See 
IVinthrop, i. 323, and comp. ii. 313. 
So, in Plymouth, the firft marriage 
(May 12, 1621), "according to the 
laudable cuftome of y^ Low-Coun- 
tries, . . . was thought moft requifite 
to be performed by the magiftrate, as 
being a civill thing," &c., and Brad- 



ford (loi) adds, "this praftifs hath 
. . . been followed by all the famous 
churches of Chrift in thefe parts to 
this time, — Anno 1646." Mr. Sav- 
age has " difcovered no record of a 
marriage performed by a clergyman 
prior to 1686, except in Gorges' Pro- 
vince, by a clergyman of the Church 
of ^ngXTinA." — Proceed. Mafs. Hifi. 
Soc., 1858-60, p. 283. 

The publication of the intention, 
or " contraftion," of marriage, was, 
however, fometimes folemnized by a 
fermon. Mather alludes to this as 
"the old ufage of New England," 
when fpeaking of Mr. Cotton's fer- 
mon, in 1 65 1, at the contradion of 
Rev. Samuel Danforth to the daughter 
of Mr. Wilfon. — A/agna/m, h. iv. c. 3. 
§6. A MS. note-book of Henry 
Wolcot, of Windfor, preferves the 
heads of a fermon by Rev. John War- 
ham, Nov. 17, 1640, "at the 



88 



Plaine dealing, 



come together by tolling of the bell, and carry the dead 
folemnly to his grave, and there fland by him while he is 
buried. The Minillers are moft commonly prefent.'^° 



contracting of Benedi6l Alvord, and 
Abraham Randall." (The former 
married Joan Newton, Nov. 26 ; 
the latter, Mary Ware, Dec. i.) 
That tliis difcourfe was prailical and 
pointed may be inferred from the fe- 
le(5lion of the text, — Ephes. vi. 10, 
II, ("Finally, my brethren, be ftrong 
in the Lord," &c. " Put ye on the 
whole armour of God, that ye may 
be able to fland againft the wiles of 
the devil.") — and from one of the 
" ufes " to which it was applied by 
the preacher, — " to teach us, that the 
Jlate of marriage is a warfariiig 
condition.'''' 

Robert Baylie, the Presbyterian 
divine, in A Dijfuafive from the 
Errors of the Time (Lond., 1646), al- 
leging that, " whatever crotchets the 
Brownifls have fallen into, the htde- 
pendents pun6lually do follow the 
moft and worft of them," says, 
" Firft, for the marriage bleffing, . . . 
they fend it from the Church to the 
Town-houfe ; making its folemniza- 
tion the duty of the magiftrate : this 
is the conftant praftice of all in New 
England. The prime of the Inde- 
pendent Minifters now at London, 
have been married by the Magiftrate : 
and all that can now be obtained of 
them, is, to be content that a Minifter, 
in the name of the Magiftrate and as 



his commiffioner, may folemnize the 
holy band." — pp. 115, 116. 

•3° " Concerning burials, this they 
fay : all prayers either over or for the 
dead, are not only fuperftitious 
and vain, but alfo are idolatry, and 
againft the plain fcriptures of God . . . 
Mourning in black garments for the 
dead, if it be not hypocritical, yet it 
is fuperftitious and heathenifti : funer- 
al fermons, they alfo utterly condemn, 
becaufe they are put in the place of 
trentals, and many other fuperftitious 
abufes follow thereby. To be brief 
. . . the Nonconformifts will have the 
dead to be buried in this fort, (holding 
no other way lawful,) namely, that it 
be conveyed to the place of burial, 
with fome honeft company of the 
Church, without either fmging or 
reading, yea, without all kind of cere- 
mony heretofore ufed, other than that 
the dead be committed to the grave, 
with fuch gravity and fobriety as 
thofe that be prefent may feem to fear 
the judgments of God, and to hate 
fin, which is the caufe of death ; and 
thus do the beft and right reformed 
churches bury their dead, without any 
ceremonies of praying or preaching 
at them." — J. Canne's NeceffUie of 
Separation (1634); Hans. Knolly^s 
Soc. ed., pp. 112, 113. Comp. Ma- 
ther's Ratio Difciplina, 117. 



Neiues from New-England. 89 

They are very diligent in traynings of their fouldiers Trainings or 
and military exercifes, and all except Magiftrates, and Min- 
ifters beare amies, or pay for to bee excufed, or for fpeciall 
reafons are exempted by order of Court. The Captains 
and officers are fuch as are admitted of the Church. 

But the people begin to complain, they are ruled like Grievances. 
Jlaves, and in fliort time fliall have | their children for 40 
the moft part remain unbaptized : and fo have little 
more priviledge then Heathens, unleffe the difcipline be 
amended and moderated. 

It is feared, that Eledions cannot be fafe there long, Danger. 
either in Church or Common-wealth. So that fome 
melancholy men thinke it a great deale fafer to be in the 
midft of troubles in a fettled Common-wealth, or in hope 
eafily to be fettled, then in mutinies there, fo far off from 
fuccours. 

At Neiv Plymouth they have but one * Minifter, maf- p^nt^'""'""'' 
ter Rayner;'^' yet mafter Chanccy lives there, and one m.j„„v/,. 
mailer Smith, both Miniffers, they are not in any office "^^f^^^^rd.. 

James 3. i. Not many mafters. Whether this be their ground, I know not ; but what e%er tliere be in others to advife 
and affift, the deciding, determining voice, I meane alfo the negative, in fome cafes, ought, as I thmk, to be m the Pallor: 
Be there never fo many Minifters in the Church, Doe nothing zvithout your Pajlor or Bijliop, faitli Ircn<em : for whaffo- 
ever is faulty in the Church, the Bithop is firfl and principally blamed, i?<v. 2. and 3. 

The firft inftance, as far as is fon, minifter of Medfield, prayed with 

known, of prayer at a funeral, in the company before they went to the 

Maffachufetts, was at the burial of grave." — Palfrey's ///>/ ^/ A'. A'., iii. 

the Rev. William Adams, of Roxbury, 495, note i. 

Auguft 19, 16S5, when, as Judge '3x John Reyner, born at Gilder- 

Sewall noted in his Diary, " Mr. Wil- fome, Yorkfliire, was educated at 



90 



Plaine dealing, 



M. c//a«a.y his |-]^g^.g.i32 niafter C/miicey flands for dipping in baptifme 

controverfie. ' -^ i i o i 

onely neceffary, and fome other things, concerning which 
there hath been much difpute, and mafter Chaiicey put 
to the worft by the opinion of the Churches advifed 
withall.'^^ 

Cohamict, aHas Tatuiton, is in Plymouth Patent. There 
is a Church gathered of late, and fome ten or twenty of 
the Church, the reft excluded. Mafter Hooke Paflor, 
mafler Streate Teacher.'^^ Mafter Hooke received ordi- 



Taunton. 
M. Hooke. 
M. Streate, 
their ordination 



Magdalen College, Cambridge. He 
came to New England about 1635 ; the 
next year fucceeded Rev. Ralph Smith 
at Plymouth, and continued in the 
miniftry there until 1654. — Brad- 
ford, 351 ; Davis's Morton's Mevto- 
rial, 216, 217; Savage's Geneal. 
Dia. 

132 Ralph Smith came with Hig- 
ginfon in 1629, and after brief ftay 
at Nantafket, removed to Plymouth, 
where he was " kindly entertained 
and houfed, . . . and exercifed his 
gifts amongft them, and afterwards 
was chofen into ye miniftrie, and fo 
remained for fundrie years." Brad- 
ford, 263. In the winter of 1635-36, 
when John Norton was preaching in 
Plymouth, and there was hope of 
effefting his fettlement there, Mr. 
Smith "layed downe his place of min- 
iftrie, partly by his owne willingnes, 
. . . partly at the defire and by ye per- 
fuafion of others." — Ibid, 351 ; comp. 
Winthrop, i. 175. 



Charles Chauncy had been at Plym- 
outh fmce 1638. He left there, in the 
latter part of 1641, to become paftor 
at Scituate, where he remained until 
chofen prefident of Harvard College 
in 1654. — See Bradford, 382-84; 
ll'iiit/irop, i. 330; Magtialia, b. iii. 
pt. 2, c. 23 ; I I\Iafs. Hifi. Coll., x. 171; 
and the ample memoir in Fowler's 
Moiiorials of the Chatinceys, 1-37. 

133 See Bradford, 383 ; Winthrop, 

i- 330-31- 

134 William Hooke (A.M. Trin. Col., 
Oxford, 1623) is named as a land- 
holder in Taunton in May, 1639. In- 
quiry for the date of his ordination 
there is hopelefs, fmce Mr. Savage 
has " aflced in vain " (Geneal. Difl.). 
He removed to New Haven, and was 
ordained teacher there about 1644; 
thence he returned to England, in 
1656, to become the domeftic chap- 
lain of Cromwell. — Bacon's Hifl. Dif- 
cojirfes, 62-73 ■> Savage, in note to 
IVinthrop, i. 251 ; Emery's Miniflry 



Ncwes from Nezu-England. 



91 



nation from the hands of one mafter Bifliop a School- 
mafter, and one Parker an Husbandman, '•''^ and then 
mafter Hooke joyned in ordaining mafter Streate. One 
mafter Doughty, a Minifter, oppofed the gathering of the 
Church there, alleadging that according to the Covenant 
of Adi'-akain, all mens children that were of baptized 
parents, and fo Abrahams children, ought to be baptized; 
and fpake fo in publique, or to that efife6l, which was 
held a difturbance, and the Minifters fpake to the Magif- 
trate to order him : The Magiftrate commanded the Con- 
ftable, who dragged mafter Doughty out of the Affembly. 
He was forced to goe away from thence, with his wife 
and children.'^^ 



M. Doughty his 
controverfie. 



41 



of Taunton, i. 63-155 ; Baylies' Hijl. 
of Plymouth Colony, i. 290-95. 

Nicholas Street removed to New 
Haven, where he was elefted and or- 
dained teacher (Nov. 26, 1659) as Mr. 
Hooke's fuccefifor, and the affociate 
of Davenport. After the latter re- 
moved to Bofton. in 1668, Mr. Street 
remained fole minirter of the New- 
Haven Church till his death, April 
22, 1674. — Bacon's HiJl. Difcourfcs, 
155-57 ; Baylies' Plymouth, i. 295. 

13s " Mafter Bifliop " was, probably, 
John Bifliop, afterwards niinifl:er of 
Stamford, Conn. See N. E. Geneal. 
Reg., viii. 156. Trumbull {Hijt. of 
Conn., i. 286) fays, the meffengers of 
the Stamford Church, fent to feek a 
miniflier, "travelled on foot, through 



the wildernefs, to the eaftward of Bof- 
ton, where they found Mr. John Bifli- 
op, who left England before he had 
finiflied his academical ftudies, and 
had completed his education in this 
country." — William and John Parker, 
probably brothers, were among the 
purchafers of Taunton, in 1637. The 
latter was a reprefentative in the Gen- 
eral Court, in 1642 and 1643. Bay- 
lies' Plymouth, ii. 2, 282 ; Savage, 
Geneal. Did. John Parker and John 
Bufliop (as the name is recorded,) of 
Taunton, were propounded for free- 
men, June I, 1641. Plym. Col. Pec., 

ii. 17. 

136 In tlie earlier draught was add- 
ed : " And being a man of eflate when 
he came [to] the country, is undone." 



92 



Plaine dealing. 



Divers other Thcrc arc alfo in this Patent divers other Plantations, 

Towns and 

Minifters. Qg Safidwicli, SUiiatc, Duxbury, GreejieJJiarbotir,^^'^ and 

Yarmouth. Minifters there are, mafler Leveridge,^^^ maf- 



M. H.S.MS. In July and Auguft, 
1639, Lechford was attorney for Eliz- 
abeth, fifter of Francis Doughty and 
wife of William Cole, in a fuit to re- 
cover from her brother a fliare of their 
deceafed father's eftate, and her prom- 
ifed marriage portion : and it was 
"for going to the Jewry and pleading 
wti^ them out of Court," in this caufe> 
or another between the fame parties, 
that Lechford was debarred by the 
Court " from pleading any man's 
caufe hereafter," &c., as his MS. jour- 
nal fhows. See Ma/s. Rcc, i. 270 ; 
ii. 205, 206. 

Francis Doughty was the fon of a 
merchant of the fame name, of Briftol, 
who died before 1637. In a recog- 
nizance for appearance at the next 
Quarter Court, made in July, 1639, he 
is ftyled, of Dorchefter. In March, 
1 64 1, then of Taunton, he was fined 
by the Plymouth Court for felling 
powder to the Indians. {Ply in. Col. 
Rec, ii. 8.) In Auguft, 1639, l"s fif- 
ter, in a petition to the General Court 
of Mafiachufetts, averred that he 
" had a purpofe to remove his dwell- 
ing forth out of the jurifdiftion of this 
Court ; where, this complainant can- 
not tell." (Lechford's Journal) He 
was, afterwards, at Rhode Ifland, 
where he made brief ftay ; and, in 
1641, betook himfelf to the Dutch at 



Manhattan, from whom he and his 
aflbciates procured, March 28, 1642, 
a patent for Mefpath (fince, New- 
town, L. I.). He failed, however, "to 
fecure the happy home " which (Mr. 
Brodhead tells us) he came, from per- 
fecution in Maffachufetts, to feek : for 
he was fined and imprifoned by Kieft 
— " threatened with this and that " by 
Stuyvefant, — obliged to quit Mef- 
path for Flufliing, — and driven from 
Flufliing to Virginia. See Brodhead's 
Hijl. of Neiv York, i. 2,1,1, 3^7, 4ii, 
472. 

•37 Incorporated as a townfhip, 
March, 1641, and named Rex/iame, 
but, within a year afterwards, called by 
its prefent name, MarJJiJield. Plyin. 
Col. Rec, xi. (Laws) },']. The Rev. 
Richard Blinman, with the friends 
who came with him to New England, 
fettled firft at Green's Harbour, prob- 
ably in 1640: but he had left that 
place (and Plymouth Colony) before 
Lechford's book was written. See 
after, p. 54. 

'38 The Rev. William Leveridge, 
or Leverich (A. M. Emman. College, 
Cambridge, 1629), after fucceffive re- 
movals from Dover to Bofton, and 
from Bofton to Duxbury (where he 
was for a fliort time the affiftant of 
Rev. Ralpli Partridge), fettled at 
Sandwich before 1640, and was teach- 



Newes from New-England. 



93 



ter Blackwood'^'^ mafter Mathews, ^"^^ and mafter Ajtdrew 
Hallet,'^' a School-mafter. Mafter Saxton alfo, who was 
comming away when we did.'*' 

At the Ifland called Aquedney,^^^ are about two hun- inand/}?,,.-,/;,,^. 
dred families. There was a Church, where one mafter 



er of the church there. For what 
further is known of him and his work, 
fee Savage's Geiieal. Did., and note 
in Winthrop, i. 115; Freeman's Hijl. 
of Cape Cod, ii. 38. 

139 Chriflopher Blackwood was for 
a fhort time at Scituate, after the re- 
moval of the Rev. John Lothrop to 
Barnftable in 1639. He returned to 
England in 1642. — Deane's Scituate, 
172, 222. 

After the name of Mr. Blackwood, 
Lechford had inferted (in the M.H.S. 
MS.) that of " Mr. Thomas." This 
was probably William Thomas, of 
Marfhfield, who is fuppofed to have 
come to New England with Mr. Bhn- 
man. On a fubfequent page (54) will 
be found mention of "a broyle be- 
tweene one Mafter Thomas . . . and 
Mafter Blindman," which refulted in 
the removal of the latter from the 
colony. 

140 Marmaduke Matthews preached 
at Yarmouth from 1639 to 1643. Of 
him and his many troubles, fee Froth- 
ingham's Chaidejloum, 121-29; Free- 
man's Cape Cod, ii. 180, 182; John- 
fon's W. W. Providence, b. iii. c. 7. 

141 Andrew Hallet removed from 
Lynn to Sandwich in 1637, and to 



Yarmouth about 1640. — Savage's 
Geiieal. Did. 

142 The M.H.S. MS. adds, "And I 
know not what ftayed him, he is very 
aged and white." The Rev. Peter 
Saxton (A.M. Trin. Col., Cambridge, 
1603), whom Mather calls "aftudious 
and a learned perfon, a great Hebri- 
cian," was at Scituate in 1640, but 
did not long remain there. He was 
probably one of the four minifters 
who returned to England, 061. 27, 
1641, in the fhip with John Humfrey. 
— See Magnalia, b. iii. pt. 4, c. I ; 
Winthrop, ii. 85 ; Brook's Lives, iii. 
139 ; Savage's Gcneal. Did. 

Of the " worthy inftruments " whom 
Morton, s. a. 1542, names "among 
the fpecialeft" in Plymouth colony, 
Lechford omits the Rev. John La- 
throp (Scituate, 1634-39 ; Barnftable, 
1638-53) ; Rev. John Mayo, Mr. La- 
throp's colleague at Barnftable (ord. 
April IS, 1640); and Rev. Ralph 
Partridge, firft minifter of Duxbury 

(1637-58). 

143 "The Iftand," — a name fpecial- 
ly appropriated to Rhode liland by 
the Engliih who firft planted there. 
With the locative or objeftive affix, 
Aqueduct, or Aquidnick, fignifying, 



94 



Plaifie dealings 



M after Gortoh 
wliipt and 
baniflied. 



Clark was Elder : '^^ The place where the Church was, is 
called Newport, but that Church, I heare, is now dif- 
folved ; "*^' as alfo divers Churches in the Country have 
been broken up and diffolved through diilention. At the 
other end of the Ifland there is another towne called 
P ortf mouth, but no Church : there is a meeting of fome 
men, who there teach one another, and call it Prophefie. 
Thefe of the Ifland have a pretended civill government 
of their owne ere6lion, without the Kings Patent.'^^' There 
lately they whipt one mafter Gorton,''^'' a grave man, for 



io, OH, or at the Ifland. [Thus, in A6ts 
xxvii. 1 6, Eliot wrote, '■'• aJiqiiednet 
hettamun Clauda," for "an ifland 
caUed Clauda.] The diminutive of 
this name, Aquedi?//<?/et, or Aquidz/i/^ 
ick, was given to "the little Ifland in 
the mouth of the Bay " (4 Mafs. Hijl 
Coll., vi. 267). 

The M.H.S. MS. reads here,— 
"about one hundred families : There 
is one church," etc. 

■44 For "Elder," the M.H.S. MS, 
has " Paftor," and adds: "There is 
Mr. Lenthall a minifler out of office 
and imployment, and lives very poor- 
ly. Mr. Doui^hty alfo is come to this 
Ifland. The place where the church 
is, is called Neiv ported To the 
name of Mr. Lenthall is this note, in 
the margin : " He flood upon his min- 
ifterie and againft the Church Cove- 
nant in the Bay, and diverfe joyneing 
to choofe him their minifler at Wey- 



mouth, by fubfcribing to a paper for 
that end, he was cenfured in the gen- 
rall Court at Bofl:on, and fo were they 
that joyned in that election, and one 
of them named Brittaine for words 
faying that fome of the Minifters in 
tlie Bay were Brownifts, and that they 
would not [_/?t] tin it came to the 
fwords point, was whipt, and had 
eleven ftripes." Comp. p. 22, ante, 
and fee notes 77-80. 

145 " But that church . . . through 
dilfention." Thefe three lines are not 
in the M.H.S. MS., where the fen- 
tence ends with ^^ Newport." 

'46 The words " pretended civil " 
are not in the M.H.S. MS. 

'47 Of Samuel Gorton, — whofe hif- 
tory Mr. Savage has, in a Angle line, 
reduced to its effence : "a moft ac- 
tive religious diflurber of feveral 
places," — fee the Memoir by Judge 
Staples, prefixed to " Simplicities De- 



Newes from New-England. 



95 



denying their power, and abiifing fome of their | Magif- 
trates with uncivill tearmes ; the Governour, mafter Cod- 
dington, faying in Court, Y021 that are for the King, lay 
hold on Gorton ; and he againe, on the other fide, called 
forth, All you that are for the King, lay hold on Codding- 
ton ;^^^ whereupon Gorton was baniflied the Ifland : fo 
with his wife and children he went to Providence.^^'^ They 
began about a fmall trefpaffe of fwine, but it is thought 
fome other matter was ingredient.'^" 



fence," R. I. Hijl. Coll., ii. ; Mackie's 
Life of Gorton, in Sparks's A/ner. 
Biography; A-otice (by Chas. Deane) 
in N. E. Getieal. Regifler, iv. 201-21 ; 
Savage's Geneal. Diet., and note to 
Winthrop, ii. 58 ; Arnold's R. Ifland, 
i. 163, et feq. 

"The fum of the prefentment of 
Samuel Gorton, at Portfmouth " was 
printed by Edward Winflow in his 
reply to Gorton {Hypocrifte Un- 
mafked, Lond., 1646), pp. 54, 55, — 
whence it is copied by Arnold, Hifl. 
of R. Ifland, i. 170-72. The precife 
date of his trial or of his banifhment 
from the Ifland has not been afcer- 
tained. Mr. Arnold (i. 172) places it 
in March or April, 1640 ; Dr. Palfrey 
{Hifl. of N. E., ii. 119) writes " 1640 
or 1641 ;" Mr. Savage, in his Geneal. 
Diilionary, and Mr. C. Deane, in A' 
E. Geneal. Regifler, iv. 206, are filent. 

148 Comp. the prefentment (14th 
count) in Hypocrifie Unmafked, 55 ; 
Arnold's Hifl. of R. I.,\. 172. 



149 Roger Williams wrote to Gov. 
Winthrop, from Providence, under the 
date, "8. ift 1640," fome account of 
Gorton's proceedings there : " Mafter 
Gorton having foully abufed high and 
low at Aquednick, is now bewitching 
and bemadding poor Providence, . . . 
denying all vifible and external ordi- 
nances, in depth of Familifm, againfl 
which I have a little difputed and 
written, and fhall (the Molt High 
affifting,) to death. As Paul faid of 
Afia, I of Providence ; (almofl) all 
fuck in his poifon, as at firfl they did 
at Aquednick," etc. — Hypocrifie Un- 
mafked, 55 ; Arnold, i. 172. Comp. 
N. E. Geneal. Reg., iv. 216. Mr. Ar- 
nold reads the date of this letter, 061. 
I, 1640; Mr. Deane and Dr. Palfrey 
(ii. 120), March 8, 1641. That the lat- 
ter is the true reading hardly admits 
of doubt. 

150 Winflow expreflly ftates that 
Gorton's punifliment was " all for 
breach of the civil peace and notori- 



96 



Plaiiie dealing. 



New Proviih'tice 



At Providence, which is twenty miles from the faid 
Illand, hves mafter Williams, and his company of divers 
opinions ; moft are Anabaptifls ; they hold there is no 
true vifible Church in the Bay, nor in the world, nor any 
true Miniflerie.'^' This is within no Patent, as they fay ; 
but they have of late a kind of government alfo of their 
owne ere6tion.'5^ 



ous contempt of authority, without 
the leaft mention of any points of re- 
ligion, on the Government's part. 
Hyp. U)iin. The " fmall trefpafs " 
was by " an ancient woman's cow 
going into the field where Samuel 
Gorton had fome land." 

'SI See IVint/u'op, i. 293, 367. Af- 
ter his re-baptifm by Holliman, Roger 
Williams " walked in the Baptifls' 
way about three or four months," then 
"brake from the fociety, and declared 
at large the ground and reafon of it, 
— that their baptifm could not be 
right, becaufe it was not adminiftered 
by an Apoftle. After that, he fet 
himfelf upon a way of Seeking," etc. 
(Rich. Scott's letter, in App. to Fox's 
N. E. Fire-Brand QiiencJied, 247.) 
" He advifed [the church at Provi- 
dence] to forego all, to dillike every- 
thing, and wait for the coming of new 
Apoftles : whereupon they diffolved 
themfelves, and became that fort of 
fe6l which we term Seekers, . . . own- 
ing of no true Churches or Ordinan- 
ces now in the world." Magnalia, 
b. vii. c. 2, § 7 ; comp. Calender's 



Hijl. Difc, 109, 1 10. When Mr. Wil- 
liams was in England, in 1643 and 
'44, he made numerous converts to 
his peculiar belief, and the feft of 
Seekers — of whom Baxter called him 
the father — became confiderable in 
numbers and influence. Robert Bail- 
lie, the Presbyterian divine, wrote 
from London, in June, 1644, that the 
Independents "are divided among 
themfelves. One Mr. Williams has 
drawn a great number after him, to a 
fingular independency, denying any 
true church in the world." Not long 
afterwards, he wrote again : " Sundry 
of the Independents are flepped out 
of tlie church and follow my good 
acquaintance, Mr. Roger Williams, 
who fays there is no church, no 
facraments, no paftors, no church- 
officers, or ordinance in the world, 
nor has been fince a few years after 
the Apoftles." Hanbury's Memorials, 
ii. 439, 444. Of the se(5t of Seekers, 
fee Reliq. BaxteriancE, pt. i. 76 ; Ed- 
wards's Gangrcena, pt. ii. p. 131. 

152 This alludes probably to the 
articles of agreement entered into by 



Newes from New-England. 



97 



One mvSiG^Y Blakcjion,'^^ a Minifter, went from Bojlon, '^'^- Biakejio,,. 
having lived there nine or ten yeares, becaufe he would 
not joyne with the Church ; he lives neere mafter Wil- 
liams, but is far from his opinions. 

There are five or fix townes, and Churches upon the connenkot. 
River Conne5licot^^^'' where are worthy mafter Hooker, 
mafter Warham, mafter Hewet, and divers others, and 
mafter Fenwike with the Lady Boleler,'''" at the rivers i.^Ay Boteier. 



the inhabitants of Providence, July 
27, 1640. " It was but a flight depar- 
ture from the primitive democracy, 
ftill it forms an era in our colonial 
hiftory, and for feveral years confti- 
tuted the town government." — Ar- 
nold's Hiyi. of R. IJland^ i. 108; fee 
Staples, A?ina!s of Prov., 40-43. 

153 In the M.H.S. MS., this name 
is written Blackflo)ic. Of the little 
which is known of the Rev. William 
Blackftone, the first known white fet- 
tler of Bofton, and the " earliefl per- 
manent civilized refident" in what 
now conftitutes the State of Rhode 
Ifland, ample exhibition may be found 
in Blifs's Hifl. of Rchoboth, 2-14; 
Daggett's Hifl. of AttleboroHgJu 29; 
Callender's Hifl. Difcourfe (Elton's 
ed.), App. v. ; S. Davis, in 2 Mafs. 
Hifl. Coll., X. 170; Savage's Geneal. 
Did., and note on Winthrop, i. 44, 45 ; 
Drake's Boflon, 95-97 ; Arnold's R. 
Ifland, i. 99, ii. 568-70. He lived on 
the tra(5l afterwards called the "Attle- 
borough Gore " (included in Reho- 
both north purchafe, in 1661), near 

13 



the river fmce called by his name, in 
the fouth part of what is now the 
townfliip of Cumberland, R. I. 

154 Lechford had not vifited Con- 
necticut, and his notice of the river 
towns is brief and unfatisfaftory. He 
names Mr. Hooker of Hartford, but 
omits his colleague, the Rev. Samuel 
Stone. John Warham was paflor, and 
Ephraim Huet teacher, of the church 
at Windfor. It does not appear that 
Wethersfield had an organized church 
before 1641, when Henry Smith is 
fuppofed to have been ordained there. 
Peter Prudden (who was fettled over 
the church of Milford, April, 1640) 
and Richard Denton (who removed to 
Stamford early in 1641) had preached, 
perhaps only occafionally, at Weth- 
ersfield, before Mr. Smith's ordina- 
tion. — Comp. Trumbull's Hijl. of 
Conn., i. loS, 120, 121, 279, 280 ; Win- 
throp, i. 305, 306 ; Goodwin's Footc 
Genealogy, Introd., xxxviii. 

155 George Fenwick of Brinkburn, 
CO. Northumberland, a gentleman of 
good family and eftate, was intcrcfted 



98 



Plaine dealings 



43 



mouth in a faire houfe, and well fortified, and one mafler 
Higgifon, a young man, their Chaplain.'^^ Thefe plan- 
tations have a Patent ; the Lady was lately admitted of 
mafler Hookers Church, and thereupon her child was 
baptized. 

The Lady Moody''''''' lives at Lynne, but is of Salem 



in the Earl of Warwick's grant to 
Lord Say and Sele and others, ufual- 
ly termed the "old patent" of Con- 
necticut. In July, 1639, as the rep- 
refentative of the grantees, he came, 
" with his lady and family, to make a 
plantation at Saybrook," " landing at 
New Haven from the firfl fhip that 
ever caft anchor in that place." {\Vin- 
throp, i. App. A. 59, 60, and p. 306 ; 
Hiifc/u'ji/o/i, \. 97.) His wife, Alice, 
was a daughter of Sir Edward Apfley 
of Thackham, co. Suffex, Knt, and, 
at the time of her marriage with Mr. 
F., the widow of Sir John Botelcr 
of Tellon, co. Kent. She died at Say- 
brook, in November or December, 
1645, fliortly after the birth (Nov. 4) 
of her fecond daughter, Dorothy. 
The elder daughter, Elizabeth, whofe 
baptifm Lechford mentions, married, 
in England, after her father's deceafe, 
her coufin, Roger Fenwick, Efq., 
younger brother of Major John F., 
the proprietor of Salem Tenth, New 
Jerfey. See Will of Geo. Fenwick, 
in Conn. Rec, i. App. vii. ; Berry's 
SiiJJ'ex Genealogies (Apfley) ; Burke's 
ExtinCl Barotietcies (Boteler, of Tef- 
ton.) Mr. Fenwick, having tranf- 



ferred to Connefticut his intereil in 
the fort and plantation at Saybrook, 
returned to England foon after the 
death of his wife, and entered the fer- 
vice of the parliament. In 1648, he 
" was made a colonel and governor 
of Tynemouth caftle" {IVinthrop, ii. 
App. A. 72), and was named a mem- 
ber of the high court of juflice for the 
trial of Charles I., but did not take 
his feat in that tribunal. In 1652, he 
was Governor of Berwick ; and, the 
fame year, married Katharine, daugh- 
ter of Sir Arthur Hafelrigge. He 
died at Berwick, March 15, 1657 ; 
and a monument in the church there 
honors his memory with the epitaph, 
" A good man is a public good." 

156 John Higginfon, eldeft fon of 
the Rev. Francis ; afterwards affiflant 
and fucceflbr of Rev. Henry Whit- 
field at Guilford, and, later, the hon- 
ored minifter of the Salem church, 
1660-1708. Before his fettlement at 
Guilford, — probably before his chap- 
laincy at Saybrook, — he taught fchool 
for fome time in Hartford, while prof- 
ecuting his ftudies for the miniftry 
under Mr. Hooker. 

'57 I have found no earlier mention 



Newes from New-England. 



99 



Church, fliee is (good Lady) ahiioft undone by buying f^^'ij' ^^""^y- 
mafter Humphries farme, Siuarnpfcot,^'"'^ which cofl her 
nine, or eleven hundred pounds. 

Beyond Conne6licott are divers plantations, as Neiu- Av^t, Haven. 
Haven^ alias Quinapeag, where mafter Davenport is Paf- 
tor, and one mafter lames^^'^ a Schoole-mafter ; and 



of Lady Deborali Moody than in a 
memorandum by Lechford, acknowl- 
edging the receipt of ^i. ii. "of my 
Lady Moody," April 22, 1639, — '^i 
payment of profeffional fervices pro- 
bably. She had a grant of four liun- 
dred acres of land from the General 
Court, May 13, 1640. Mafs. Rcc, i. 
290. Winthrop (ii. 123), writing in 
the fummer of 1643, tells how, "being 
taken with the error of denying bap- 
tifm to infants," flie was admoniflied 
by the Salem Church, and removed 
to the Dutch colony, "to avoid fur- 
ther trouble, etc." By permiffion of 
Gov. Kieft, fhe fettled at Gravefend, 
L. L See Brodhead's Hijl. of Neiu 
York, \. 367, 411. 

158 Intheealternpartof Lynn; grant- 
ed to Mr. Humfrey by the General 
Court, May, 1635, and laid out, 1637-8, 
"betwixt the Clifte and the Foreft 
River near Marblehead." Mafs. Rec, 
i. 147, 226. [The name "Swampfcot" 

— contracted from \Vaiiiiafquo>npfl:ut 

— fignifies, at the clitT, upriglit rock, 
or rock-fummit.] 

'59 Thomas James, ordained paftor 



at Charleflown, Nov. 2, 163-2, was dif- 
milTed in confequence of " fome occa- 
fions of difference " with his colleague, 
Mr. Symmes, as Winthrop relates, 
under date of March 11, 1636. He 
removed, after brief ftay at Provi- 
dence, to New Haven, whsre he had 
a grant of land, Nov. 3, 1639, and 
was admitted a freeman June 1 1, 1640. 
See Winthrop, i. 94; 127, 182, ii. 95 ; 
Frothingham's Charleflcii'n, 70-72 ; 
N. Haven Col. Rec, i. 24, 35 ; Ba- 
con's Hi_^. Dtfc, 57-59- A greater 
than Mafter James was teaching at 
New Haven when Lechford wrote, 
or very fhortly afterwards. Ezekiel 
Cheever, "the father of New-England 
fchool-mafters," came with Davenport 
and Eaton in 1638. In February, 
1642, a free fchool was eftabliOied in 
New Haven, and provifion made by 
the General Court for its fupport, 
"according to which order, 20^. a 
year was paid to Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, 
... for two or three years," and his 
falary was increafed to ^30. in Au- 
guft, 1644. — A'. //. Col. Rcc, i. 62, 
210 ; Bacon's /////. Dif:, 318-20. 



lOO 



Plaine dealings 



another where mafter Whitfield^''^ is : and another where 
mafter Pridgeon "^' is, and fome others,'^' ahnoft reaching 
to the Dutch plantation fouthward. Among thefe are 
my old acquaintance, mafter Roger Ludlow,^^^ mailer 



'60 Manunkatuck — named Guil- 
ford, July 6, 1643 — was purchafed 
and planted, in 1639, by the Rev. 
Henry Whitfield and his ailociates. 
Mr. W. arrived in New Haven in 
July, 1639, ""^ the fliip with George 
Fenwick. He returned to England 
in 1650. — N. H. Col. Rec, i. 96, 199 ; 
TV. E. Geneal. Reg., ix. 149; Trum- 
bull's Hijl. of Conn., i. 207, 285, 295. 

161 For Prudden. Wepowaug, af- 
terwards named Milford, was pur- 
chafed of the Indians, Feb. 12, 1639, 
by Rev. Peter Prudden and his affo- 
ciates. Their church was gathered 
at New Haven, and Mr. P. was or- 
dained their minifter, April 18, 1640. 
He remained with them till his death, 
July, 1656, — "a man of great zeal, 
courage, wifdom, and exemplary grav- 
ity in his converfation." — Hubbard's 
HiJl. of N. E., 328. See alfo, Mag- 
nalia, b. iii. pt. 2, c. vi.; Bacon's Hifl. 
Difcou)fes, 55. 

^^^ Thefe were Rippoivams (named 
Stamford, April 6, 1642), fettled in 
1 641, under the jurifdidion of New 
Haven ; Peqiionnock, or» CjipJtcag, 
(Stratford), and Uncowa (Fairfield), 
begun to be fettled in 1639, the for- 
mer admitted to town privileges by 
Connefticut the fame year ; the latter 
in April, 1640. — Trumbull's Conn., \. 



121, 109, no ; N. H. Col. Rcc, \. 45, 
58 ; Conn. Rec, i. 35, 36, 41, 53. 

163 Mr. Ludlow probably accompa- 
nied Captains Mafon and Stoughton 
in purfuit of the fugitive Pequots to 
Safco fwamp, in June, 1637, and had 
thus an opportunity of exploring that 
fine traft of land which Capt. Stough- 
ton pronounced to be "before Pequot, 
or the Bay either, abundantly." (Let- 
ter, in Winthrop, i. App. D.) In Oc- 
tober, 1639, he had taken fome fteps 
toward the eftablifliment of a planta- 
tion at Uncowa (Fairfield), and re- 
moved thither not long afterwards. 
Conn. Rcc, i. 35, 53. Confidering the 
imjDortant pofition which Roger Lud- 
low held in two colonies, and the 
trufts with which he was honored, it 
is furprifing that fo little of his per- 
fonal hillory and family relation has 
come to light. That little may nearly 
all be feen in Savage's Geneal. Difl., 
and note to Winthrop, i. 28, and in 
Trumbull's Cotuie^liciit, i. 217, 218. 
A prefatory note to Mr. Brinley's ad- 
mirable reprint of the Conn. Laws of 
1673 gives reafon for doubting the 
correftnefs of Dr. Trumbull's ftate- 
ment (1. c), adopted by Mr. Savage, 
that Ludlow " removed with his fam- 
ily to Virginia." The fa6l of his re- 
turn to England is placed beyond 



Newes from New-England. 



lOI 



Frojl^^'' fometime of Nottingham, and his fonnes, loJin 
Grey and Henry Grey ; the Lord in his goodneffe pro- 
vide for them ; they have a Minifler, whofe name I have 
forgotten, if it be not mafler BlackwelL^^^ I do not know 
what Patent thefe have. 

Long I/land is begun to be planted, and fome two Min- Long ijia,ui. 
ifters are gone thither, or to goe, as one mafter Peir/on,^^^ 



doubt by the occurrence of his name 
as one of a committee to whom, in 
July, 1656, the council at Whitehall 
referred the petition of Thomas Jen- 
ner for reftitution of goods which had 
been taken from him at Bofton, under 
a commiffion from Major Sedgwick 
and Capt. Leverett. See Sainsbury's 
Calendar of Col. Papers, i. 444. 

164 William Froft was an early fet- 
tler at Uncowa, where he died in 
1645. His will, of Jan. 6, 1644-5, is 
printed in Conii. Rec, i. 465. John 
and Henry Grey were living in Bof- 
ton in 1639. Before May of that 
year, John married Elizabeth, daugh- 
ter of William Froft, and widow of 
John Watfon. Aug. i, he fold a houfe 
and home-lot in Lynn, and, before 
September 28, removed (perhaps ac- 
companying his father-in-law) to Un- 
cowa, or the vicinity. Henry, the 
younger brother, had a houfe-lot 
granted in Bofton, Feb. 12, 1639. In 
an inftrument executed Sept. 7, 1639, 
he is defcribed as " now of Bofton, 
heretofore citizen and merchant of 
London." He married Lydia, another 



daughter of William Froft, after May, 

1639. In September, 1640, he and 
his wife conveyed their houfe in Bof- 
ton to Thomas Lechford, in truft, to 
be fold for their account. (Lechford's 
MS. Journal.) He foon afterwards 
followed his brother and wife's father 
to Uncowa, where he became a man 
of fome importance ; was a deputy in 
1656 and '57 ; and died in 1658. 

165 Adam Blakeman (as in his auto- 
graph now before me, but more often 
written by his contemporaries and 
defcendants. Black/nan) became, in 

1640, the firft minifter of Pequonnock 
(Stratford), where he continued to re- 
fide until his death in 1665. — See the 
Magnalia, b. iii. pt. 2, c. 7 ; Trum- 
bull's Hijl. of Conn., i. 280, 463 ; Sav- 
age's Geneal. Dulionary. 

i66 Rev. Abraham Pierfon, from 
Yorkftiire (A.B. Trin Col., Cambr., 
1632), came to New England in 1640, 
and was chofen minifter of the church 
gathered at Lynn in November of 
that year, for removal to Long Ifland. 
— See Winthrop, ii. 6 ; Savage's 
Gen. Did. J Trumbull's Conn., i. 148. 



I02 



Plaine dealing, 



and mafter Knowles;^^ that was at Dover, alias Northam. 
A Church was gathered for that Ifland at Lynne, in the 
Bay, whence fome, by reafon of flraitneffe, did remove to 
the faid Ifland ; and one mafter Simonds, heretofore a 
fervant unto a good gentlewoman whom I know, was 
one of the firft Founders.''^^ Mafter Peter of Salem was 
at the gathering, and told me the faid mafter Henry Si- 
monds made a very cleare confeffion. Notwithftanding 
he yet dwels at Bojlon, and they proceed on but flowly. 
The Patent is granted to the Lord Starling ; but the 
Dutch claime part of the Ifland, or the whole : for their 



1^7 Sept. 28, 1641, James Farrett, 
agent of the Earl of Stirling, recorded 
at Bofton his formal proteft againft 
Edward Tomlyns and Timothy Tom- 
lyns, "witli one Han/ard Knoivles^nd 
others, who have lately entered and 
taken pofieffion of fome parts of the 
Long Ifland," etc. See note to U'in- 
throp, ii. 4. Thefe were of the com- 
pany from Lynn and Ipfwich which 
went to Long Ifland in the fummer 
of 1641, and "finding a very commo- 
dious place for plantations, but chal- 
lenged by the Dutch, they treated 
with the Dutch governor to take it 
from them" and obtained from Kieft 
a grant (June 6) of all the privileges 
they defired, on "very fair terms." 
The Maflachufetts Court "were of- 
fended at this, and fought to fl:ay them, 
not for going from us, but for fl:rength- 
ening the Dutch, our doubtful neigh- 



bors, and taking that from them which 
om- king challenged and had granted 
... to the Earl of Stirling." Some of 
the leaders, called before the Odlober 
court, " were convinced and promifed 
to defifl:." IVinthrop, ii. 34; Brod- 
head's Hijl. of New York, i. 332-33. 
If Mr. Knollys actually went with this 
company to Long Ifland, he did not 
long remain there, for we know that 
he arrived in London, Dec. 24, 1641. 
Brook's Lives, iii. 492 ; Wiiifhrop, ii. 
28 (and note). 

jfjs Henry Symonds came to New 
England in July or Auguft, 1640, (fail- 
ing from Briftol in the " Charles," or 
her confort, the "Hopewell"). He 
was admitted an inhabitant of Bofton 
Jan. 30, 1643, and died there in Sep- 
tember of the fame year. — Lechford's 
MS. journal; Snow's Bq/ion, 124, 
125 ; Drake's Bo/ion, 278, n. 



Neives from New-England. 1 03 

plantation is right over againft, and not far from the 44 
South end of the faid Ifle. And one Lieutenant Howe 
pulHng downe the Dutch Arms on the Ifle, there was 
Hke to be a great flir, what ever may become of it.''^'^' The 
Dutch alfo claime Quinapeag, and other parts. 

At Northam,^''° ahas Pafcattaqua, is mafler Larkham Pn/caaagua. 
Paftor. One mafler H. K:''' was alfo lately Minifler 
there, with mafter Larkham. They two fell out about 
baptizing children, receiving of members, buriall of the 
dead ; and the contention was fo fliarp, that mafter 
K. and his party rofe up, and excommunicated mafter m. Larkiutm 

excommunicated. 

Larkliain, and fome that held with him: And further, 
mafter Larkham flying to the Magiflrates, mafter K. and 
a Captaine'^-' raifed Amies, and expeded helpe from the a broyie or not. 

169 See IVinthrop, ii. 4-7; Brod- reafon for thinking "it was time for 

head's Hijl. of New York, i. 297-99. him to be gone." He became the 

The " great ftir " was quieted by the minifter of Taviftock, Devonfhire, and 

interchange of letters in Latin, by notwithftanding the evil report which 

Kieft and Dudley. followed him acrofs the Atlantic, he 

'7° Dover was fora fliort time calkd was honored as " a man of great fin- 

Northam, after a pariOi of that name cerity, ftricl piety and good learning." 

near Bideford, co. Devon, where the Palmer's Calaniy, i. 407. Edwards, 

Rev. Thomas Larkham had been min- in the GangrcEna (1646 : pt. 3, p. 97), 

ifter. Of the ftrife between Mr. Lark- gives brief and bitter notice of " one 

ham and Mr. KnoUys, Winthrop gives Mafter Larkin," who was then preach- 

a full account, ii. 27, 28. See alfo ing fomewhere in Kent, — "a fierce 

two letters from Hugh Peters, in 4 Independent." 
Mafs. Hijt. Coll., vi. 106, 107; Bel- '71 " Hanfard Knowles." — J/.//..V. 

knap's yV^w //aw/y/wVv, i. 46-49- Mr. MS. 

Larkham failed for England in 1642, ^n "Captaine Underbill." — /^/rt'. 

and Winthrop (ii. 92) gives a good Comp. Winthrop, ii. 27, where the 



I04 Plaine dealing, 



Bay; mafter K. going before the troop with a Bible 
upon a poles top, and he, or fome of his party giving 
forth, that their fide were Scois, and the other EjigHJIt :'^^ 
Whereupon the Gentlemen of Sir Ferdinando Gorges 
plantation came in, and kept Court with the Magiflrates 
oi Pafcattaqua, (who have alfo a Patent) being weake of 
themfelves. And they fined all thofe that were in Armes, 
for a Riot, by Indi6lment, Jury, and Verdi6l, formally.'^'* 
Nine of them were cenfured to be whipt, but that was 
fpared. Mafter K. and the Captain their leaders, were 
fined loo.l. a piece, which they are not able to pay. To 

Kpifcopacie. tliis broylc came mafler /^t'/rr of ^'^/c^;;^, and there gave 
his opinion, at Northam, that the faid excommunication 
was a nullity.'" 
45 Mafter Thomas Gorgs fonne of Captain Gorgs of Bat- 

Provinceof combc, by Ckedder m SomerfetJJiire, is principall Commif- 

captain is faid to have gathered his lower part of the River [at Portf- 

neighbors " to defend hiiiifelf, and to mouth and Dover], who came up with 

fee the peace kept," Mr. Larkham a company of armed men and befet 

having previoufly "laid violent hands Mr. Knolles' houfe where Capt. Un- 

upon Mr. Knolles." derhill then was, . . . and in the mean 

173 " KnoUys's calling his party time they called a Court, and Mr. 
Scots, and the other party EngliJJi, Williams fitting as judge, they found 
will be underftood when it is remem- Capt. Underbill and his company 
bered that the battle of Newburn- guilty of a riot, and fet great fines 
upon-Tyne had been lately fought." upon them," etc. — Winthrop, ii. 28. 
— Palfrey's Hijl. of N. E., i. 591. 17s See after, p. 53, where Lechford 

174 " Mr. Larkham and his compa- mentions this vifit of Hugh Peters to 
ny . . . fent to Mr. [Francis] Williams, Dover as one of the " occurrences 
who was governour of thofe in the touching Epifcopacie." 



Newes from New-England. 



lO: 



fioner for the Province of Maigne, under Sir Ferdinando, 
but he was not at that Court at Noi^tham himfelfe.'^^ 
Mafter Wards fonnc'" is defired to come into the Pro- 
vince of Maigne. There is one mafter lenner''^^ gone 
thither of late. There is want of good Minifters there ; 
the place hath had an ill report by fome, but of late fome 
good a6ls of Juftice'^'' have been done there, and divers 



'76 Thomas Gorges arrived at Bof- 
ton in the summer of 1640, commif- 
fioned a member of the council for 
Maine, and its fecretary. Winthrop 
found him "well difpofed," and "care- 
ful to take advice of our magiftrates 
how to manage his affairs.'" He re- 
mained a few days in Boflon, and 
went to Maine in feafon to be prefent 
at the fecond meeting of the General 
Court for the province, September 8. 
In 1641, when Acomenticus was in- 
corporated as a town, by charter of 
Sir Ferd. Gorges, his " well-beloved 
coufm" Thomas was named mayor; 
and he was alfo conftituted deputy- 
governor of the province. Winthrop, 
ii. 9, and Savage's note ; Sullivan's 
Maine, App. vi.; Williamfon's Maine, 
i. 283-5 ; Hazard's State Papers, i. 47; 
Letters of T. Gorges to Winthrop, in 
4 Ma/s. Hijl. Coll., vii. i},},, 335. 

177 See before, p. 38, note 119. 

178 Rev. Thomas Jenner, who had 
been at Roxbury in 1634 or 1635 ; 
afterwards at Weymouth, where he 
preached for fome years, and his 
name appears as deputy to the Gen- 

14 



eral Court, in May, 1640. In Janu- 
ary, 1 64 1, he was at Saco, commend- 
ed thither by Winthrop, Humfrey, 
and other friends in Maflfachufetts ; 
and Richard Vines (who was an Epif- 
copalian) wrote that "he liked Mr. 
Jenner his life and converfation, and 
alfo his preaching, if he would let the 
Church of England alone." He was 
yet at Saco in April, 1646, though al- 
ready " on the wing of removal ;" re- 
turned to England, and was living in 
Norfolkfliire in 165 1. — Winthrop, i. 
250 (and note), 287-88 ; Folfom's 
Saco and Biddeford, 81-83; Mafs. 
HiJl. Coll., 3d Ser. iv. 144 ; 4th Sen 
vii. 340, 341- 

• 79 The "good afts of juftice" to 
which Lechford fpecially alludes,were, 
probably, the proceedings againft the 
notorious George Burdett, late gov- 
ernor and preacher at Dover, and 
more recently at Acomenticus, where 
Thomas Gorges " found all out of or- 
der, for Mr. Burdett ruled all." In 
1640, he was complained of and fined, 
on three feveral convidions, for grofs 
mifcondua, and foon afterwards re- 



io6 



Plaine dealings 



Gentlemen '^° there are, and it is a Countrey very plenti- 
ful for fifli, fowle, and venifon. 

Exeter. Not farrc from Norikaju is a place called Exeiej^, where 

mafter Wheelwright hath a fmall Church.'^' 

Cape Anne. And at Cape Anne, where fifliing is fet forward, and 

fome ftages builded,'^- there one mafter RaJJiley is Chap- 



turned to England. — See IVinf/irop, 
i. 276, 281, 291; ii. 10 ; Hubbard, 221, 

353, 361. 

180 We may read here, with the 
M. H. S. MS., "divers well acco/n- 
pliJJit and dijcreeie Gentlemen there 
are." 

"8i Rev. John Wheelwright, " being 
banifhed from us, gathered a compa- 
ny, and fat down by the falls of Paf- 
cataquack, and called their town Ex- 
eter." IViiithrop, i. 290. The fettle- 
ment was commenced in 1638, and. 
Oft. 4, 1639, thirty-five planters fub- 
fcribed a combination for civil gov- 
ernment, independent of other jurif- 
diflion. Hazard, i. 463 ; Belknap's 
iV. HampJJiire, i. ch. i. 

182 "A filhing trade was begun at 
Cape Ann by one Mr. Maurice Tom- 
fon, a merchant of London ; and an 
order was made [by the General 
Court, in May, 1639], that all flocks 
employed in fifliing fliould be free 
from public charge for feven years." 
Winthrop, i. 307 ; Mafs. Rec, i. 256, 
257-8. Mr. Thompfon, if he came at 
all to New England, did not remain 
long. He was an enterprifing mer- 



chant, who was largely interefted in 
trade with Canada, Virginia, the Weft 
Indies, and Guinea ; much employed 
by the company of Providence Ifland, 
the Virginia company, and the pro- 
prietors of the Somers Ifland, be- 
tween 1632 and 1650 ; a member of 
the Guinea company; and, in 1653, 
one of the commiffioners for govern- 
ing the Somers Iflands. See Sainf- 
bury's Calendar of Colon. Papers, i. 
151, 155, 294, 316-19, &c. Land was 
appropriated in his name at Cape 
Ann, and " Mr. Thomfon's frame " 
(probably for curing fifli) is mentioned 
in the Gloucefter town records in 
1650, as having formerly flood upon 
a "parcel of land in the harbour." 
Babfon's Hijl. of Ghmcejler, 50. 01- 
mond Douch and Thomas Milward 
(or Millard) were partners in the fifli- 
ing bufinefs at Cape Ann in July, 
1639, and the latter defcribes himfelf 
as "of Cape Ann," in Auguft, 1640. 
Lechford's Ms. Journal. They were 
probably employed by Mr. Thompfon, 
and were under the immediate direc- 
tion of his agent, Samuel Maverick 
of Noddle's Ifland. 



Newes from New-England. 



107 



lain:'^^ for it is farre off from any Church: Rajliley is 
admitted of Bojlon Church, but the place lyeth next 
Salem, and not very far further from Ipfwich. 

The IJlc of Shoalcs and Richmonds IJle, which He neere ifleofi-/w«/« 
Pafquattaqua, and '^* good fifliing places. 

About one hundred and fifty leagues from B0JI071 Eafl- ineof^-aw,... 

ward is the IJle of Sables, whither one lo/in Webb, alias 

Evered, an a6live man, with his company are gone with 

commiffion from the Bay, to get Sea-horfe teeth and 
oyle.'®5 

Eaflward off Cape Codd lyeth an Ifland called Martins ^;[;f "^ '''"•^- 



183 Thomas Rafliley was admitted 
to the Bofton Church, March 8, 1640, 
then called a " ftudent." He was at 
Exeter in 1646 ; returned to England, 
and was minifter at Bifhop Stokes, 
Hants ; afterwards, it is faid, in Wilt- 
fhire. Goical. Dici. In 1641, Rev. 
Richard Blinman, with a part of the 
company who followed him from 
Wales, removed from Green's Har- 
bor (Marflifield) to Cape Ann, and 
gave to the plantation the name of 
Gloucelter. 

184 For "and" read "are." Af.H.S. 
MS. Richmond's [or Richman's] Ifl- 
and is on the coaft of Maine, between 
Cape Elizabeth and Black Point. Jof- 
felyn vifited it, in September, 1638; 
" where Mr. Tralanie [Trelawney] 
kept a fifliing. Mr. John Winter, a 
grave and difcreet man was his agent, 
and imployer of 60 men upon that 



defign." P^oyages to A'. E., 25, 26. 
W^inthrop (i. 124) mentions the com- 
ing of feventeen fifliing fliips to Rich- 
man's Ifland and the Ifles of Shoals, 
in the winter of 1633-4. 

185 June 21, 1641, Lechford drafted 
a "commiffion to John Webbe als 
[Evered] of Bofl:on and his company 
to trade and doe their bufinefle at the 
Ifle of Sables, and to pafle in the 
barke Endevor of Salem, whereof is 
mafler Jofeph Grafton." Ms.Joitnial, 
224. "This fummer [1641] the mer- 
chants of Bofton fet out a velTel again 
to the Ifle of Sable, with 12 men, to 
flay there a year. They fent again in 
the 8th month, and in three weeks 
the veflel returned" with 400 pair of 
fea-horfe teeth, worth ^^300. Win- 
throp, ii. 34, 35. Earlier expeditions, 
in 1635, 1637, and 1638-9, had been 
lefs fuccefsful. Ibid., i. 162, 237, 305. 



io8 



Plaine dealing, 



46 



Vineyard'^'' uninhabited by any Englifli, but Indians, 
which are very favage. 

Northward from the Bay, or Northeaft, lyeth the 
Freiich plantation, who take up bever there, and keepe 
ftri6l government, boarding all veffels that come neare 
them, and binding the mafters till the governour, who is 
a Noble-man,'^^ know what they are ; and fouth of Nezv- 
England the Dutch take up the bever. 



French and 
Dutch. 



JofTelyn mentions " the Ainphibio2is 
creature, the Walrus, Afors, or Sea- 
Hoife," — "a kind of monftrous-fifli 
numerous about the Ifle of Sables, i. e. 
The fandy Ifle." Voyai^es, 10, 106. 

186 "The m^oi Capa^vack." Brad- 
ford, 97. " Thofe of the Ifles of Cap- 
awack" fent to make friendfhip." 
Ibid., 104. " The lile Gapewak . . . 
now called Martin'' s Vineyard." Mor- 
ton's Memorial (1669), 26. Winthrop 
wrote "Martin's Vineyard," when no- 
ticing the beginning of a plantation 
there by "fome of Watertown," in 
1643 ('i- '51) 152). So, Thomas May- 
hew himfelf, in 1650; Henry Whit- 
field i^'' Martin'' s Vineyard, . . . fome 
call it Marthaes Vineyard "), in 165 1 ; 
and Hubbard, a generation later. But 
" Martha's Vineyard" was the name 
given by Gofnold, in 1602, to the fmall 
ifland now called No-man's Land (3 
Mafs. Hi/l. Coll., viii. 75, 76) ; and the 
" I Hands of Capawock alias Martha's 
Vineyard" were, by that name, con- 
veyed to Thomas Mayhew, 061. 25, 



1 64 1. Hough's N^antiicket Papers, 4. 
See 2 Mafs. Hifl. Coll., iv. 107, 118, 
184 ; Belknap's Avier. Biog., ii. 113; 
Davis's Morton, 58, 275. By Indians 
of the main land, the ifland was called 
Nope. 2 Mafs. Hifl. Coll., ii. 242. 

187 Charles d'Aulnay de Charnife, 
governor of the divifion of Acadie 
which was weft of the river St. Croix. 
After the death (in 1635) of Razilly, 
chief commander of French Acadie, 
D'Aulnay and the Sieur de La Tour 
(to whom had been affigned the gov- 
ernment of the eaflern divifion), quar- 
relled for the fucceffion, the former 
holding fortified ports at Penobfcot 
(whence he had expelled the Plymouth 
traders in 1635), at Port Royal (now 
Annapolis) and La Heve (now New 
Dublin), in Nova Scotia. La Tour 
had a fort at the mouth of the St. 
John. See Winthrop, i. 117, 166, 171, 
206 ; ii. 42, 43, 107-14, &c.; Hutch- 
infon, \. 127-135, 497-516; 3 Mafs. 
Hifl. Coll.,w'i\. 90-121 ; and Palfrey's 
Hijl. of N. Eng., ii. 1 44-1 51. 



Neives from New-England. 109^ 



Three hundred Leagues fouth from the Bay along the virsmia. 
coafls, lyeth Virginia ; neare to that is Maryland, where Maryland. 
they are Roman CathoHques, they fay. 

There was a fpeech of fome Siuedes which came to ^■^'^'i^'- 
inhabit neere Delawar Bay, but the number or certainty 
I know not. 

Three hundred leagues from the Bay, Eaflward, lyeth New-fonnd-iand. 
New-found-land, where is a maine trade for fifliing. Here 
we touched comming homeward.'^^ 

Florida lyes betweene Virginia and the Bay of Mexico, Florida. 
and had been a better Country for the EnglifJi to have 
planted in, according to the opinion of fome, but it is fo 
neere the Spaniard, that none muft undertake to plant 
there, without good Forces. 

For theflate of the Country in the Bay and thereabouts. 47 



T 



He Land is reafonable fruitfull, as I think; they s'ateofti.e 

Countrey oi 



have cattle, and goats, and fwine good ftore, and .^ew- England 
fome horfes, ftore of fifli and fowle, venifon, and *corne, ^^'^'T.'tZn 
both Englifit and Indian. They are indifferently well r.^ore^fainn' 
able to fubfift for viauall. They are fetting on the man- f;f7„'^tei: 
ufadure of linnen and cotton cloath,"^ and the fifliing :,", ^;,gS:f,:: 

Peafe Iiave no 

•88 " There being no fliip which was xSg This marginal note is not in tlie ^j"™^;^,^^^,;^'^ 

to return right for England, they went M.H.S. MS. are very good.'" 

to Newfoundland, intending to get a '9° The General Court, May, 1640, 

paflage from thence in the fifhing " taking into ferious confideration the 

fleet." Winthrop, ii. 31. abfolute neceffity for the raifing the 



no 



Plaine dealing. 



trade,"^' and they are building of fliips,"'' and have good 
ftore of barks, catches, lighters, fliallops, and other vef- 



manufafture of linen cloth," made an 
order for the promotion of this branch 
of induftry in the feveral towns, as 
alfo, "for the fpinning and weaving 
of cotton wool." Mafs. Rec, i. 294. 
At the Oftober feffion, a bounty was 
granted of 3d. on the (hilling on the 
value of all linen, woollen, and cotton 
cloth which fliould be made in the 
jurifdiclion, of yarn fpun or materials 
raifed therein. Ibid., 303. The next 
year, payment of this bounty was or- 
dered to be made on 83^ yards of 
cloth, valued at a fhilling per yard ; 
but the people did not approve the 
a(5lion of the Court, and the order of 
the preceding year was, at the requeft 
of the deputies, repealed by the Gen- 
eral Court, June, 1641. Ibid., 316, 320. 
Conne6licut, in February, 1641, or- 
dered that hemp or flax fliould be 
planted by every family in the jurif- 
diftion, that " we might, in time, have 
fupply of linen cloth among our- 
felves." Conn. Rec, i. 61, 64. 

" Rowley, to their great commen- 
dation, exceeded all other towns," in 
the manufaflure of cloth, as Winthrop 
(ii. 119, 120) records, under the year 
1643. The fettlers of that town were 
moftly from Yorkfliire, and "were the 
firft people that fet upon making of 
cloth in this Weftern world, . . . many 
of them having been clothiers in Eng- 
land." — Johnfon's WAV. Providence, 
b. ii. ch. 1 1. 



191 See before, p. 45, note 182. 
"This year [1641] men followed the 
fifliing fo well, that there was about 
300,000 dry fifli fent to the market." 
— Winthrop, ii. 42. 

In July, 1640, Lechford drew an 
agreement between Mr. Thomas 
Fowle of Bofton and John Squire, 
Nicholas Squire, and Sampfon Anger 
[Angier], all of Acomenticus, fifher- 
men, for the purchafe of as many 
" merchantable dry cod-fifli" as they 
fliould take, cure, and deliver to him 
on board veflels at or near the Ifle of 
Shoals, within twelve months there- 
after ; for which he was to pay four- 
teen fhillings per kental. — Ms. Jour- 
nal, 155. 

" Some of the freemen and inhabi- 
tants of Hingham" petitioned the 
General Court in June, 1641, to be 
"inftituted into a company" for ef- 
tablifliing a fifliing plantation at Nan- 
tafket, and for a grant to themfelves, 
for that purpofe, of " the faid neck of 
land called Nantafket, from fea to fea, 
unto the head of Straits pond." Ibid., 
221. The court granted the land, 
and gave liberal encouragement to 
the enterprife ; and, in 1644, the plan- 
tation, having become a town, with 
"twenty houfes and a minifter," was 
named Hull. Mafs. Rec, i. 320, 326 ; 
Winthrop, ii. 175. 

192 " The general fear of want of for- 
eign commodities, now our money was 



Newes from New-England. 



1 1 1 



fels. They have builded and planted to admiration for 
the time. There are good mafts and timber for fliipping, 
planks, and boards, clap-board, '^^ pipe-ftaves, bever, and 
furres, and hope of fome mines. ""^ There are Beares, 
Wolves, and Foxes, and many other wilde beafts, as the 
Moofe, a kind of Deere, as big as fome Oxen, and 



gone, and that things were like to go 
well in England, fet us on work to 
provide fliipping of our own, for which 
end Mr. [Hugh] Peter, being a man 
of very public fpirit and fingular ac- 
tivity for all occafions, procured fome 
to join for building a fhip at Salem, 
of 300 tons, and the inhabitants of 
Boflon, ftirred up by his example, fet 
upon the building another at Bofton, 
of 150 tons/' IViiithrop, ii. 24, under 
date of Feb. 2, 1641. Both fliips 
were finiflied in 1641. Ibid, 31. Mr. 
Peters and Emanuel Downing write 
from Salem, Jan. 13, 1641, that there 
were "two or three fliips building" 
there. 4 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., vi. 90- 
The next year (1642), "five fliips 
more were built, three at Bofton, one 
at Dorchefter, and one at Salem " 
{Winthrop, ii. 65); and in September, 
the author of " New England's Firfl; 
Fruits " wrote (p. 22) : " Befides many 
boats, (hallops, hoys, lighters, pinna- 
ces, we are in a way of building fliips 
of an 100, 200, 300, 400 tons. Five 
of them are already at fea, many 
more of them in hand at this prefent," 
&c. 

■93 If it were not for the perfiflent 



omiflion in modern dictionaries of 
the primary meaning of this word, it 
would be unneceffary to remark here, 
that it was applied to all fmall boards 
(efpecially to paling and pipc-Jlaves) 
which were made by riving or cleav- 
ing, in difl:in6lion fromy^w^?^ boards. 
Cloven (A. Sax. clotcgh) boards eafily 
pafl'ed into " clo'-boards," " claw- 
boards," " clobboards," and " clap- 
boards." Joflelyn wrote of the "cleav- 
ing of clawboard," and of oak wood 
"excellent for claw-board and pipe- 
ftaves." Voy., 208 ; A' E. Rar., 48. 
Wood diflinguiflies between oaks 
" more fit for clappboard, [and] others 
for fa-d-me board." N. E. Pro/peS?, 
pt. i. c. 5. 

194 Comp. Joflelyn, iV. E. Bar., 92, 
93 ; Voyages, 44 ; Wood's A^.E. Prof- 
pecl, pt. i. c. 5. John Winthrop, Jr., 
failed for England in the fame fliip 
with Lechford, and, while abroad, 
formed a company for eftablifliing an 
iron-work in New England ; return- 
ing, in 1643, with ;{^iooo flock, and a 
number of workmen. See Winthrop, 
ii. 212, and Savage's note; Mafs. 
Rec., i. 206, 327; ii. 61, 81, 125; 4 
Mafs. HiJl. Coll., vi. 516, 5 '7- 



112 



Plaine dealing. 



Lyons,''5 ^s I have heard. The Wolves and Foxes are 
a great annoyance. There are Rattle fnakes, which 
fometimes doe fome harme, not much ; He that is flung 
with any of them, or bitten, he turnes of the colour of the 
Snake, all over his body, blew, white, and greene fpotted ; 
and fwelling, dyes, unleffe he timely get fome Snake- 
weed ; '^"^ which if he eate, and rub on the wound, he may 



I9S Everybody in New England had 
heard of thefe lions. " For beafls, 
there are fome bears, and they fay 
fome lions alfo ; for they have been 
feen at Cape Anne. ... I have feen 
the fkins of all thefe beafts fince I 
came to this Plantation, excepting 
lions." Higginfon's A\ E. Plantation 
[in Young's C/tron. of Ma/s., 248]. 
Wood, too, heard "fome affirme that 
they have feene a Lyon at Cape Anne," 
and fays that fome who were loft in 
the woods had "heard fuch terrible 
roarings, as . . . muft eyther be De^nlls 
or Lyons. . . . Befides, Plimouth men 
have traded for Lyons Ikinnes in for- 
mer times." N. E. ProfpeH, pt. i, ch. 
vi. Joflelyn was told, at Black Point, 
of "a young Lyon (not long before) 
kill'd at Pifcataway by an Indian" 
( Voyages^ 23) ; and there were fome 
"yet living in the country," in 1663, 
or later, to affirm that a young lion 
had been (hot by an Indian, not far 
from Cape Ann. A'. E. Par., 21, 22. 

The fuppofed lion may have been 
the cougar, or puma, fometimes called 
the American lion, or panther. 



196 "The Antidote to expell the 
poyfon ... is a root called fnakeweed, 
which muft be champed, the fpittle 
fvvallowed, and the root applyed to 
the fore ; this is prefent cure againft 
that which would be prefent death 
without it : this weed is ranck poyfon, 
if it be taken by any man that is not 
bitten. . . . Cowes have been bitten, 
but being cut in divers places, and 
this weede thruft into their flefli were 
cured." Wood's N. E. Profpecl, pt. i. 
ch. xi. Higginfon {N. Eng. Plan- 
tation) fays, the "fling" of the rattle- 
snake will caufe death "within a quar- 
ter of an hour after, except the party 
ftinged have about him fome of the 
root of an herb called fnake-weed to 
bite on, and then he fliall receive no 
harm." Young's Chron. ofAIa/s., 255. 

Cornuti {Canadenjiuni Plantaruni, 
&c. Paris, 1635), as cited by Prof. 
Tuckerman in his Introdu6lion to Jof- 
felyn's N. E. Parities, mentions a root 
received ex notha Anglia, "known, 
it appears, by the name of Serpenta- 
ria, or, in the vernacular, Snaqroel, — 
a fure remedy for the bite of a huge 



Newes from New-England. 113 



haply recover, but feele it a long while in his bones and 
body. Money is wanting, by reafon of the failing of paf- 
fengers thefe two laft yeares, in a manner. They want 
help to goe | forward, for their fubfiftence in regard of 48 
cloathing : And great pity it would be, but men of eftates 
fliould help them forward. It may bee, I hope, a chari- 
table worke. The price of their cattell, and other things 
being fallen, ''^ ^-^gy ^j-e not at prefent able to make fuch 
returns to England, as were to be wiflied for them : God 
above dire6l and provide for them. There are multitudes 
of godly men among them, and many poore ignorant 
foules. Of late fome thirty perfons went in two small 
Barks for the Lords IJle of Providence,"''^ and for the 

and moil pernicious ferpent." Prof, would bu}- nothing ; " a cow worth 

T. thinks this to be "one of the nu- /20 in 1640 might now be bouglit 

merous varieties of iXabalus albus for ^4 or £^ : " fo as no man could 

(L.) Hook., if not, as Purfh fuppofed, pay his debts, nor the merchants 

what is now the var. Serpentaria, make return into England for their 

Gray." Trans. Avier. Antiq. Soc, commodities." lVin/hrop,\\. 21, t,i. 
iv. 1 19. Joffelyn figures and defcribes '98 Lechford left New England be- 

the Nabalus albus, in N. E. Rarities, fore the return of thefe barks, with 

76, but without allufion to its virtues, their paffengers (Sept. 3, 1 641), made 

Gov. Winthrop mentions (i. 62) that known the difaitrous iifue of this ex- 

"he always carried about him ... in pedition, "wliich brought fome to fee 

fummer time, snakeweed." their error, and acknowledge it in the 

'97 See Winthrop, ii. 7, 18, 21, 24; open congregation, but others iL'cre 
Ma/s. Col. Rec, i. 304, 307 ; E. Winf- hardened.'' Winthrop, ii. 33, 34- The 
low's letter from Plymouth, June, provifions of tlie charter granted in 
1640, in 4 Mafs. Hijt. Coll., vi. 166. 1630 to the Adventurers for the Plan- 
In the fummer of 1641, "few coming tations of the Illands of Providence, 
to us, all foreign commodities grew Henrietta, and the adjacent illands 
fcarce, and our own of no price. Corn (the Bahamas), were very liberal, and 

15 



114 Plaine dealings 



Maine thereabout, which is held to be a beter countrey 
and chmate by fome : For this being in about 46. de- 
grees of northerne latitude, yet is very cold in winter, fo 
that fome are frozen to death, or lofe their fingers or 
toes every yeere, fometimes by carelefnes, fometimes by 
accidents, and are loft in fnowes, which there are very 
deepe fometimes, and lye long : Winter begins in 06io- 
ber, and lafts till Aprill."^^ Sixty leagues Northerly it is 
held not habitable, yet again in Summer it is exceeding 
hot. If fliipping for conveyance were fent thither, they 
might fpare divers hundreds of men for any good de- 
fign.^°° The jurifdi6lion of the Bay Patent reacheth from 
Pafcattaqiia Patent Northeaft to Plymouth Patent South- 
ward. And in my travailes there, I have feene the towns 
of Newberry, Ipfwich, Salem, Lynne, Bojlon, Charlejloivne, 
Cambridge, Watertoivne, Concord, Roxbury, Dorchejlcr, 
and Braintree in the Bay Patent, New Tauntoji in Plym- 

the Company offered great encourage- who fired upon one of the veffels 

ment to planters. " The great ad- when coming into harbor, and within 

vantages fuppofed to be had in Vir- piftol-fliot of the fort, and kilHng her 

ginia and the Weft Indies, &c., made commander, WilHam Peirce, and Mr. 

this country to be difefteemed of Samuel Wakeman of Connefticut, a 

many," wrote Winthrop, in 1640. paffenger. ff'/;///^;-^/, i. 332, ii. 33, 34; 

John Humfrey, appointed by the Com- Johnfon, IV. IV. Providence, b. 2, 

pany in February, 1641, Governor of ch. 20. 

Providence Ifland, "labored much to 199 For " Aprill," the M.H.S. MS. 

draw men to join with him." But, has " March." 

before the emigrants from New Eng- 2°° The fe6lion ends here in the 

land arrived at Providence, the ifland M.H.S. MS. The eleven lines which 

had been taken by the Spaniards? follow were fubfequently added. 



Of the Indians. 



Newes from New-England. 115 

oiith Patent, the Ifland Aqiicdney, and the two townes 
therein, | Neivport and Port/mouth, and Neiv Providence 49 
within the Bay of Narhigganfets. This for the fatisfac- 
tion of fome that have reported I was no Travailer in 
N^eiv-England. 

Concerning the Indians, or Natives. 

THey are of body tall, proper, and ftraight ; they goe 
naked, faving about their middle, fomewhat to cover 
fliame. Seldome they are abroad in extremity of Winter, 
but keep in their wigwams, till neceffity drives them 
forth ; and then they wrap themfelves in fkins, or fome 
of our Englifli coorfe cloth: and for the Winter they 
have boots, or a kind of laced tawed-leather ftockins. 
They are naturally proud, and idle, given much to fmg- 
ing, dancing, and playes ; they are governed by Sache^ns, 
Kings ; and Saggamorcs, petie Lords ; ^°' by an abfolute 
tyrannic. Their women are of comely feature, induftri- 
ous, and doe moft of the labour in planting, and carrying 

201 This diftinaion is not well (for fo are the kings witli us called, as 

founded. Sachem and Sagamore they are facJiims, fouthwards)," &c. 

were two forms of the fame word, Young's Chroti. of Ma/s., 305. Capt. 

—fairkimau, "he leads," "direas." John Smith makes a fimilar diftinc- 

Wood's vocabulary has, " Sagamore, tion : " The Majfachufets call . . their 

a king. Sachem, idem." Dudley, in ¥:\ng?.fachemes. The Pennobfcots, . . 

his ktter to the Countefs of Lincoln, fagamosr Advert, for the Unexf>er., 

writes, that " Chickatalbott . . . leaft 3 ^W^- Hifl. Coll., iii. 23. Comp. 

favoreth the Englifli, of any fagamore Jofl'clyn's Voyages, 123. 



1 1 6 Plaine dealino;, 



of burdens ; their husbands hold them in great flavery, 
yet never knowing other, it is the leffe grievous to them. 
They fay, EiigliJJiman much foole, for fpoihng good 
working creatures, meaning women : And when they 
fee any of our EngliJJi women fewing with their needles, 
or working coifes, or fuch things, they will cry out, Lazie 
/quaes ! but they are much the kinder to their wives, by 
the example of the Englijli. Their children, they will 
not part with upon any terms, to be taught. They are 
50 of complexion fwarthy and tawny ; | their children are 
borne white, but they bedawbe them with oyle, and col- 
ours, prefently. They have all black haire, that I faw. 

In times of mourning, they paint their faces with black 
lead, black, all about the eye-brows, and part of their 
cheeks. In time of rejoycing, they paint red, with a kind 
of vermilion. They cut their haire of divers formes, ac- 
cording to their Nation or people, fo that you may know 
a people by their cut ; and ever they have a long lock on 
one fide of their heads, and weare feathers of Peacocks, 
and fuch like, and red cloath, or ribbands at their locks ; 
beads of wampompeag about their necks, and a girdle of 
the fame, wrought with blew and white zvampom, after 
the manner of chequer work, two fingers broad, about 
their loynes : Some of their chiefe men goe fo, and pen- 
dants of wampom, and fuch toyes in their ears. And 
their women, fome of the chiefe, have faire bracelets, and 



Newes froTii New-England. 



117 



chalnes of zuainpom. Men and women, of them, come 
confidently among the EngliJJi. Since the Pcqiiid war, 
they are kept in very good fubje6lion, and held to fl:ri6l 
points of Juftice, fo that the EnglifJi may travail fafely 
among them. But the French in the EafI:, and the Dutch 
in the South, fell them guns, powder and fliot.-°' They 
have Powahes, or Priefls, which are Witches, and a kind 
of Chirurgions, but fome of them, notwithftanding, are 
faine to be beholding to the Englijli Chirurgions. They 
will have their times of poivaheing, which they will, of 
late, have called Prayers, according to the EngliJJi word. 
The I Powahe^°^ labours himfelfe in his incantations, to 



5' 



2°2 De Vries, in an account of the 
Indians of New Netherland, in 1640, 
fays, " They have now obtained guns 
from our people [the Dutch]. He 
was a villain who firft fold them to 
them, and fhowed them how to ufe 
them." Voyages (tranflated by Mur- 
phy), in 2 iV. V. Hijl. Soc. Coll., iii. 
95. Comp. Brodhead's New York, i. 
308 ; Records of Cotitvi'rs of U. Cols. 
(Hazard, ii.) 19, 58. Bradford {Hifl. of 
Plymouih, 238, 337) complains of the 
French trade in arms and ammuni- 
tion ; but, in another place, he dif- 
tributes more impartially his cenfure 
of the " bafenefs of fundry unworthy 
perfons, both EngliJJi, Dutch, and 
French,'''' who had fupplied the In- 
dians of thefe parts with "peeces, 
powder and fliote" Qip. 235, 238-9). 



203 Powwdw, as Roger Williams 
writes it. Pa7i'wau,'EX\o\.. This word 
is nearly related to, if not identical 
with, taupowaw, "a wife fpeaker ; " 
pi. taupoivaiiog, " their wife men, and 
old men (of which number their Priefls 
are alfo)." R. Williams, Key, 57, 120. 
Wood (iV. E. Profpea, pt. 2, c. xii.) 
gives an amufmg account of the 
"pow-wows" and their doings. He 
admits "that, by God's permiffion, 
through the Devils helpc, their charms 
are of force to produce effcCls of won- 
derment," and fays, "fomelimes the 
Devill for requitall of their worfliip, re- 
covers the partie [who is fick or lame] 
to nuzzle them up in their devillifli 
Religion." Comp. R. Williams, Key, 
c. xxi.; Winflow's Good Xciucs from 
N. E. [2 Mafs. HiJl. Coll., ix. 92, 93]- 



1 1 8 Plaine dealing, 



extreame fweating and wearineffe, even to extafie. The 
Poivahcs cannot work their witchcrafts, if any of the Eng- 
liJJi be by ; neither can any of their incantations lay hold 
on, or doe any hamie to the Eiiglijli, as I have been 
credibly informed. The Powahe is next the King, or 
Sachem, and commonly when he dyes, the Pozvahe mar- 
ryes the Sqiia Sachem, that is, the queene. They have 
marriages among them ; they have many wives ; they fay, 
they commit much filthineffe among themfelves. But 
for every marriage, the Saggamore hath a fadome of wam- 
pom, which is about feven or eight fliillings value. Some 
of them will diligently attend to any thing they can un- 
derftand by any of our Religion, and are very willing to 
teach their language to any EngliJJi. They live much 
the better, and peaceably, for the EngliJJi; and themfelves 
know it, or at leafl their Sachems, and Saggamores know 
fo much, for before they did nothing but fpoile and de- 
ftroy one another.-'"^ They live in Wigwams, or houfes 
made of mats like little hutts, the fire in the midft of the 

204 "The Pagan world of Indians weaker Countreys, or to make them 

here will acknowledge our fitting Tributary: which danger ready to 

down by them, hath prevented the fall upon their heads in thefe parts, 

danger either of their diilolution or the coming of the Englifli hither pre- 

fervitude. For the Indians in thefe vented." Cotton's Way of Congr. 

parts being by the hand of God fwept Churches cleared, pt. i. p. 21. See 

away (many multitudes of them) by alfo Higginfon's N. E. Plantation, 

the plague, the manner of the Neigh- in Young's Chron. of Mafs., 257; 

bor- Indians is either to deftroy the Wood's N. E. Profped, pt. i. ch. 9. 



Newes from New-England. 119 



houfe. They cut downe a tree with axes and hatchets, 
bought of the EngliJJi, Dutch, or French, & bring in the 
butt-end into the wigwam, upon the hearth, and fo burne 
it by degrees. They Hve upon parched corne,'°^ (of late, 
they grinde at our EngliJJi mills.) Venifon, Bevers, Ot- 
ters, Oyfters, Clammes, Lobfters, and other fifli, Ground- 
nuts,^"^ Akornes, they boyle all together in a kettle. 
Their riches are their wainpom, holies, trayes, | kettles, 52 
and fpoones, bever, furres, and canoos. He is a Sachem, 
whofe wife hath her cleane fpoons in a cheft, for fome 
chief Englifit men, when they come on gueft wife to the 
wigzvam. They lye upon a mat, with a ftone, or a piece 
of wood under their heads; they will give the beft enter- 
tainment they can make to za\y Engli/Ii comming amongft 
them. They will not tafte fweet things, nor alter their 
habit willingly ; onely they are taken with tobacco, wine, 
and ftronof waters ; and I have feene fome of them in 



los '■'■ Nokehick, parch'd meale . . . yj?, Moench.) JofTclyiVs i\'. A'. /wzr., 

which they eate with a httle water, 47 {Trans. A. A. Soc, iv. 180). — 

hot or cold." R. WiUiams, A'tj, p. 1 1 . Brereton noted the "great flore of 

(ch. ii.) "-Nocake (as they call it) ground-nuts" to be found " in every 

which is nothing but Indian corne ifland, and almoft in every part of 

parched in the hot aflies," and " after- every ifland ; " " forty together on a 

wards beaten to powder." Wood, N. firing, fome of them as big as hen's 

E. Pro/pen, pt. 2, ch. vi. eggs ; they grow not two inches un- 

206 " Earth-nuts, which are of di- der ground : the which nuts we found 

vers kinds, — one bearing very beau- to be as good as potatoes." Account 

tiful flowers," (which Prof. Tucker- of GoJnohVs Voyage, 3 ^fafs. lliJI. 

man identifies with the Apios tubero- Coll., viii. 89. 



I20 



Plaine dealing, 



EngliJIi, or French cloathes. Their ordinary weapons 
are bowes and arrowes, and long ftaves, or halfe pykes, 
with pieces of fwords, daggers, or knives in the ends of 
them : They have Captaines, and are very good at a 
fliort mark, and nimble of foot to run away. Their man- 
ner of fighting is, moft commonly, all in one fyle. They 
are many in number, and worfliip Kitan,^'''' their good 



207 Comp. E.Winflow's Good N'eiues 
from N. E. (Young's Chron. of the 
Pilgr. Fathers, 326, 355) : Wood's 
N. E. Profpea, pt. ii. ch. 12. "The 
MalTachufets call their great God 
Kic/ifan, . . . and that we fuppofe 
their Devill, they call Habamoiik. 
The Pennobfcots, their God, Tan- 
tu}nP J. Smith's Advert, for the 
Unexperienced, ch. vi. 

Higginfon (in N, E. Plantation), 
wrote : " For their religion, they do 
worfliip two Gods, a good God and 
an evil God. The good God they call 
Tanium, and their evil God, whom 
they fear will do them hurt, they 
call Squantjun.'" Robert Southey, 
tranfcribing this " very fummary ac- 
count" of the Indian faith, adds: 
"An equal degree of knowledge on 
the part of the Indians might have 
made them defcribe Mr. Higginfon 
himfelf as a Sgnatittunitey Southey's 
Com.-Place Book, 2d Ser., 656. The 
comment, though mifchievous, is not 
wholly unjuft. Had our early writers 
been more diligent ftudents of the 
Indian language, they would have 



difcovered, probably, that TantJim 
and Squantum were names of the 
fame "Great Spirit," or Keihta7i, — 
to be worfhipped as a beneficent, or 
propitiated as an angry, god. Sqnan- 
tum, or nifqnantiun, fignifies, "he is 
angry " {lit., bloody-minded]. " If it 
be but an ordinary accident, a fall, 
(S:c., they will fay, God was angry and 
did it. Alnfqiiantuinnianit, God is 
angry." R. Williams, Key, p. 115. 

Manit, the word which is often 
tranflated " God," conveyed to the 
Indian no other or higher idea than 
that of fomething extra-ordinary and 
tranfcending former experience. Its 
literal fignification is, " that which 
furpaffes," " that which is more than,'''' 
other perfons or things with which it 
is compared. "At the apprehenfion 
of any Excellency in Men, Women, 
Birds, Beafts, Fifli, &c. [they] cry out 
Manittoo, that is, it is a God ; " and 
this " they fay of every thing which 
they cannot comprehend." R. Wil- 
liams, Key, 118, 105. The initial ;// 
reprefents the imperfonal prefix, while 
anit is a regularly-formed verbal. 



Newcs from New-England. 



121 



god, or Hobbamocco,^"^ their evil god ; but more feare 
Hobbaraocco, becaufe he doth them moft harme. Some 
of their Kings names are Canonicus, Meantinomy,-°^ 
Ow/Jianiequm^^''° CiiJJiamequin,^^^ Webbacoiuiils, and Squa 
Sache7n,^^- his wife : She is the Oueene, and he is Poiuahc, 



From keihte, 'great,' 'chief,' and anit, 
is formed kcihtannit, "great fupe- 
rior being" [which Eliot ufed in tranf- 
lating Genefis xxiv. 7, "the Lord 
God," Jehovah Keihtannit.'] Of this 
word, Kiehtan^ Kitan^ &c., were con- 
traft forms, or equivalents. Comp. 
the Narraganfet Kautdiitoiuif, "the 
great South-weft God " (R. Williams, 
Key, 116); the Delaware Geiajinito- 
7uit (Heckew.) ; and the Old Algon- 
kin kitchi >nanitoo (Lahontan). 

20S " Hobbamock, as they call the 
Devil." Winthrop,\.zz^\. "Aba/no- 
cho (the Devill) whom they much 
feare." Wood's .V. E. ProfpcH, pt. 2, 
ch. viii. '■'■ Abbajnocho or CheepieT 
JofTelyn's Voyages, 132. 

2°9 Caunoujiicus, and his nephew, 
Miantunnoinii, fachems of the Nar- 
raganfetts. 

210 Oitfaiiieqnin, Ofomeagen, Ofa- 
tnekin, Afuluneqtiin, &c., as the name 
is varioufly written ; the great fachem 
of the Wampanoags, — better known 
as Majfafoit. His principal refidence 
was at Sowams, now Warren, R. I. 
See Dexter's Mourfs Relation, 91, 
94, 98, &c. ; Bradford, 94, 102, &c. 

2" Cutjhamakin was the nominal 
chief of the few remaining Indians of 
16 



Neponfet. Chickataubut, who lived 
" upon the river of Naponfet, near to 
the Maffachufetts Fields," (in Ouincy,) 
was " the greateft fagamore in the 
country " (as Wood was told,) before 
the plague of 1616-18 fwept over this 
part of New England. In 1631, he 
had only between fifty and fixty fub- 
jefts ; and many of thefe, with the 
fachem himfelf, died of fmall-pox in 
1633. "Jofias, Chickatabot his heir" 
was not then of age, and Cutfliama- 
kin, who is faid to have been a brother 
of Chickataubut, and who had been a 
humble hanger-on of the Engliih from 
their firft coming, fucceeded for a time 
to the titulary honor of fachem of iMaf- 
fachufetts, and to the right of figning 
deeds and conveyances of lands once 
occupied by the tribe. Winthrop, i. 
48, 1 16, 192, 195, &c., ii. 153 ; Wood's 
N. E. Pro/peel, pt. i, c. x. ; Dudley's 
Letter, in Young's Chron. of Mafs., 
305 ; ///J/?, of Dorchefter, 10, 11, 47 ; 
Gookin, i Mafs. Hifl. Coll., i. 169. 

212 '■'■IVebcowttes, and the Squa Sa- 
chem of Millicke, wife of tlie faid 
Webcowites." Lechford's Ms. Jour- 
nal, 143. "Squa Sachem & li'ebba 
Cowet:' Mafs. Nee., i. 201. The 
Squa Sachem had been the wife of 



122 Plaine dealing, 



and King, in right of his wife. Among fome of thefe 
Nations, their policie is to have two Kings at a time ; 
but, I thinke, of one family ; the one aged for counfell, 
the other younger for a6lion. Their Kings fucceed by 
inheritance. 
\\. Dunjur^ Maflcr Henry Dun/Ier, Schoolmafler of Cambride^e, 

hopefull School- y j ^ o • 

mafter. deferves commendations above many; he I hath the 

plat-forme and way of converfion of the Natives, indiffer- 
ent right, and much fludies the fame, wherein yet he 
wants not oppofition, as fome other alfo have met with : 
He will, without doubt, prove an inftrument of much 
good in the Countrey, being a good Scholar, and having 
fkil in the Tongues ; He will make it good, that the way 
to inftru6l the Indians, muft be in their ow7ie language, 
not EngliJJi i^''^ and that their language may be per- 
feded.^'-* 

Nanepafhemit, the great fagamore with other petty fachems, made a for- 

of the Pawtucket Indians (north and mal fubmiffion to the government of 

eaft of Charles River), who was killed Maffachufetts. See Winthrop, i. 1 19 ; 

by the Tarratines in 16 19. His fons, Dexter's Mourfs Relation, 126-28 ; 

Wonohaquaham, or Sagamore John, Brooks's Mcdford, j^i 74 i Young's 

of Miftick, "the chiefeft Sachim in C/iron. of Ma/s., ^od, 2,07 ; Frothing- 

thefe parts, at our firft coming hith- ham's Hi/i. of Charlejloivn, 32-36. 

er " (Cotton's Way cleared, i. 80), and 213 See Mr. Dunfler's letter to Dr. 

Montowompate, or Sagamore James, Ravis, in 4 i1/^. Hifl. Coll., i. 251-54. 

of Saugus, with mofl of their people. He writes : " We do not trouble the 

died of fmall-pox in Dec, 1633. The Indians to learn our Englifh, but onely 

widow married Webbacowit before fuch as for their owne behoof doe it 

1635. 0"e of her places of refidence of their owne accord." 

is fuppofed to have been in what is ^'4 Near the end of this paragraph, 

now Weft Cambridge. In 1644, (lie, Lechford, in his earlier draft, had in- 



Newes from New-E^igland. 



123 



A Note of fome late ocaim^cnces touching Epifcopacie. 



SOme of the learnedft, and godlieft in the Bay, begin some late 
to underftand Governments ; that it is neceffary, ins Tpifco 
when Minifters or People fall out, to fend other Minifters, 



ferted : " M"s Glover did worthily and 
wifely to marry him." M.H.S. MS. 

iVIrs. Elizabeth Glover, who mar- 
ried Mr. Dunfter in June, 1641, was 
the widow of Rev. Joffe Glover, reftor 
of Sutton, CO. Surrey, from 1628, or 
earlier, till December, 1634, when he 
was fufpended for refufing to read the 
book of fports. He was " much be- 
loved of mod, if not of all, and his 
departure lamented by moft, if not of 
all," his people, as the parifh regifler 
affirms. (His fucceffor was indufted 
June 10, 1636.) He is afterwards de- 
cribed as " of London " ; but his refi- 
dence there muft have been brief, for 
he failed for New England in 1638, 
with the intention of eftablifhing a 
printing prefs here, having made a 
contract, June 7, 1638, with Stephen 
Day of Cambridge to come over for 
that purpofe. 

Mr. Glover died on the paffage. 
His will, which was probably executed 
before failing, names the Rev. John 
Harris, D.D., Warden of Winchefler 
College, and Richard Davys, mer- 
chant, of London, his executors. He 
left two fons, Roger and John (H. C, 
1650), and three daughters, Elizabeth 



(who married Adam Winthrop), Sarah 
(who married Deane Winthrop), and 
Pr if cilia (who married John Apple- 
ton). There may have been other 
children whofe names do not appear. 
Of thefe five, Roger, Elizabeth, and 
Sarah, were by a former wife, Sarah, 
(daughter of Roger Owfield of Lon- 
don,) who died at Sutton, July 10, 
1628, aged 30 years, while her huf- 
band was reftor there. Her epitaph, 
with the names of her children, may 
be feen in Manning & Bray's Hiji. 
of Surrey, ii. 483. 

Mr. Glover's name frequently oc- 
curs in Lechford's Ms. Journal, vari- 
oufly written Joas, Jofs, and fojfe 
Glover. On his wife's monument, 
and in the extract from the parifli 
regifter of Sutton, it is Jofeph ; and 
elfewhere it appears as Jcffe. Win- 
throp, i. 289 ; Manning & Bray's Hifl. 
Stir., ii. 487; Lechford's Ms. Journal; 
Calendar of (Brit.) St. Papers, Dont. 
Ser., 1634-5, p. 355 5 Savage's Gencal. 
Did. J Thomas's Hifl. of Printing, i. 
222-26, 458-66. Erom Mr. DunAer's 
ftatement of account with the ellatc 
(printed by Thomas, from the County 
Court Records), it appears that his 



124 



Plaine dealing, 



or they voluntarily to goe among them, to feek by all 
good wayes and meanes to appeafe them."^ 

And particularly, Mafter Pelcr went from Salem on 
foot to New Dover, alias Pafcattaqua, alias Northam, to 
appeafe the difference betweene Mafter Larkham and 
Mafter K. when they had been up in Armes this laft Win- 
ter time/"^ He went by the fending of the Governour, 
Coun/ell, and Ajjijlants of the Bay, and of the Church of 
Salem; and was in much danger of being loft, returning, 
by loftng his way in the woods, and fome with him, but 
God be bleffed they returned. 



wife died "two years and two months 
after her marriage " with him, — that 
is, about Auguft, 1643. 

215 "Who giving advice according 
to the Word, doe by the bleffings of 
Chrifl heale jealoufies, and compofe 
differences, and fettle peace and love 
amongft them." Cotton, Way of the 
C/nnxhi's, 106. 

" When a Congregation wanteth 
agreement and peace amongft them- 
felves, it is then a way of God (ac- 
cording to the patterne, A6ls 15. 2.) 
to confult with fome other Church, or 
Churches, either by themfelves or 
their meilengers met in a Synod. But 
then they fend not to them for power 
to adminifter any ordinance amongft 
themfelves, but for light to fatisfie 
diffenters, and fo to remove the ftum- 
bling-block of the fufpition of mal- 
adminftration of their power, out of 



the way." Cotton, Way cleared, pt. i. 
pp. 94-5- 

2'6 See before, page 44, and Win- 
throp, ii. 28, 29. Hugh Peters's 
miffion to Pifcataqua had lefs to do 
with " epifcopacie " than Lechford 
fuppofed. " A good part of the in- 
habitants there " defired to come un- 
der the government of MalTachufetts ; 
and this, as Winthrop believed, was 
the real caufe of the "eager profe- 
cution of Capt. Underhill" and his 
friends. It was on the petition of Un- 
derhill and the Maffachufetts party, 
for aid, that the governor and council 
gave commiffion, early in 1641, to 
" Mr. Bradftreet, one of our magif- 
trates, Mr. Peter and Mr. Dalton, 
two of our Elders, to go thither and 
to endeavor to reconcile them, and if 
they could not effeft that, then to in- 
quire how things ftood, and to certify 



Newes from New-England. 



125 



Againe he went a fecond time, for appeafing | the 
fame difference, and had a Commiffion to divers Gentle- 
men, mafler Humphrey, mafter Bradjlrcate, Captaine 
Wiggon, and mafler Simons, to affift, and to heare and 
determine all caufes civill and criminall, from the Gover- 
nonr of the Bay, under his hand,^'^ and the publique 
feale, and then mafter K. went by the worfl. 

Mafter Wilfon did lately ride to Greens harbour, -^^ in 
Plymouth Patent, to appeafe a broyle betweene one maf- 
ter Thomas, as I take it, his name is, and mafter Blind- 
man,"""^ where mafter Blindman went by the worft, and 



54 



us, etc" {Winthrop, ii. 28.) Mr. 
Peters, in a letter to Winthrop (with- 
out date, but which appears to have 
been written in the fpring of 1641), 
makes brief report of his million : 
" They there are ripe for our Gouern- 
ment as will appeare by the note I 
have fent you. They grone for Gou- 
ernment and Gofpell all ouer that fide 
on the Country. I conceive that 2 
or 3 fit men fent ouer may doe much 
good at this confluxe of things ... If 
Mr. Larkham fay and hold, hee hath 
promifed mee to clofe with us," &c. 
4 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., vi. 106-7. Not 
long afterwards (June 14, 1641), the 
proprietors of the Dover and Straw- 
berry-Bank patents made a formal 
furrender of their jurifdi6lion to Maf- 
fachufetts ; " whereupon a commiffion 
was granted to Mr. Bradftreet and 



Mr. Simonds, with two or three of 
Pafcataquack, to call a court there 
and aflemble the people to take their 
fubmiffion, etc., but Mr. Humfrey, 
Mr. Peter and Mr. Dalton had been 
fent before to underfland the minds 
of the people, to reconcile fome dif- 
ferences between them, and to pre- 
pare them.^^ Winthrop, ii. 38, 42 ; 
comp. Mafs. Col. Rec, i. 324, 332. 

217 The original draft of this com- 
miffion, dated July 8th, is in Lecli- 
ford's Journal. It names as commif- 
fioners, "John Humfrey Efq., Simon 
Bradflreete gent., Thomas Wiggon 
gent., and [Samuel] Symmons gent." 

2>8 See before, p. 41, note 137. 

2'9 Of the occafion of difference be- 
tween Mr. Blinman and Mr. WilHam 
Thomas, I can learn notiiing. The 
fad of diffention and feparation is 



126 Plaine dealing, 



Captaine Keayne and others went with mafter Wil/on on 
horfeback. 

Alfo at another time, mafter Wil/on, mafter Mather, 
and fome others, going to the ordination of mafter Hooke 
and mailer Streate, to give them the right hand of fellow- 
fliip, at New Tatmton, there heard the difference be- 
tweene mafter Hooke and mafter Doughty, where mafter 
Doughty was overruled, and the matter carried fomewhat 
partially, as is reported."" 

It may be, it will be faid, they did thefe things by way 
of love, and friendly advife : Grant that ; But were not 
the counfelled bound to receive good counfell ? If they 
would not receive it, was not the Magiftrate ready to 

briefly mentioned in the Plymouth trated. Not long after thofe that 

Church record (i. 36), for the follow- went from Plymouth with that Godly 

ing extrafl from which, I am indebt- gentleman Mr. William Thomas, 

ed to my friend, the Rev. Henry M. keeping up a communion, it pleafed 

Dexter, D.D. : — the Lord to fend unto them a faithful 

" This church of MarOifield, above and able preacher of the Gofpel, 

called Green's Harbour, was begun, namely Mr. Edward Buckley, who 

and afterwards carried on by the help was chofen their paftor, and officiated 

and affiftance, under God, of Mr. Ed- in that place very profitably divers 

ward Winflow, who att the firft pro- years," (S:c. 

cured feverall WeKh Gentlemen of Rev. Ebenezer Alden, Jr., in his 

good note thither, with Mr. Blinman, Sketch of the Church in MarJJifield, 

a Godly able minifter, who unani- p. 3, fays : "In confequence of a 

moufly joined together in holy fellow- want of harmony between the new 

fliip, or at leaft were in a likely way and old fettlers, after a refidence of a 

thereunto, but fome diffenfions fell few months, Mr. Blinman, with moft of 

amongft them, which caufed a parting his friends, removed to Gloucefter." 

not long after, and foe the hope of a Comp.^m^f;;-^', 303-4; Winth.^W.d^. 

Godly fociety as to them was fruf- 220 5ee before, p. 41, note 136. 



Newes from New-Englmid. 



127 



ajjijl, and in a manner ready, according to duty, to e7iforce 
peace and obedience?'-^' did not the Magiflrates affijl? 
and was not mafter K. fent away, or compounded with, 
to feek a new place at Long IJland,''^-^ mafter Doughty 
forced to the Ifland Aqiicdney,^-^ and mafter Blindman to 
Coniieilicot ? "'' 



2-1 How Mr. Cotton would have 
anfwered thefe queftions may be in- 
ferred from fome remarks of his on 
the relation of the Church to the 
civil magiftrate, in a Thurfday leflure 
(preached early in 1640): "There is 
nothing more difproportionable to us, 
then for us to aflfecl Supremacy, for 
us to weare the homes that might 
puth Kings ; to throw downe any, or 
to defcrc tnagijlrates to execute ivhat 
we JJiall think fit, verily it is not com- 
patible to tJie finiplicity of the Church 
of Chrifi. Neither may they give 
their power to us, nor may we take 
it from them. ... It is good to have 
thefe two States [the Church and the 
Magiftracy] fo joyned together, that 
the fimplicity of the church may be 
maintained and upheld and ftrength- 
ened by the civill State according to 
God, but not by any fimplicity further 
then according to the word. Beware 
of all fecular power, and Lordly 
power, of fuch vaft infpe<5lion of one 
church over another: Take heed of 
any fuch ufurpation, it will amount to 
fome monftrous Beaft : Leave every 
church Independent, not Independent 
from brotherly counfell; God forbid 



that we fhould refufe that ; but when 
it comes to power, that one Church 
fliall have power over the refl:, then 
look for a Beaft [the allufion is to 
Revel, xiii. 2], which the Lord would 
have all his people to abhor." — Ex- 
pofttion upon 1 3/// chap, of Revelation, 

PP- 30, 31- 

2^2 See before, p. 43, note 167. 

223 See before, pp. 40, 41, note 144. 

224 See note 219, above. Mr. Blin- 
man removed, with his friends, to 
Cape Ann. Nothing is known of his 
going to Conneclicut after leaving 
Marfhfield, before 1650, when he went 
from Gloucefter to New London, 
where lie preached for feveral years. 
Perhaps Lechford was niifmformed 
as to the place of Mr. Blinman's new 
fetdement ; for, in a notice of Cape 
Ann (p. 45, ante), the coming of his 
company from Marfhfield is not men- 
tioned. Poffibly, however, Mr. B. 
did, in the firft inftance, direft his 
courfe from Plymouth Colony to Con- 
nedicut or New Haven, " to feek a 
new place," which not finding to his 
mind, or failing to fecurc fatisfaftory 
accommodations for himfelf and peo- 
ple, he returned eaftward. 



128 Plaine dealing. 



55 Quejlions to the Elders of Bofton, delivered 9. Septerab. 

1640. 

I. 'I "\ T'Hether a people may gather themfelves into a 

V V Church, without a Vai\\^^x fent of God ? -^^^ 

2. Whether any People, or Congregation, ma}^ ordaine 
their owne Officers ? 

3. Whether the Ordination, by the hands of fuch as 
are not Mi^iijiers, be good ? ^-^ 

To the which I received an Aji/wer the fame day: 

TO the firft, the Anfwer is affirmative ; for though the 
people in this Countrey are not wont to gather 
themfelves into a Church, but (as you would have it) 
with the prefence and advice of fundry Miniflers ; yet it 
were lawfull for them to gather into a Church without 
them. For if it be the priviledge of every Church to 
choofe their owne Minifters, then there may be a Church, 
before they have Miniflers of their owne ; for Miniflers 
of another Church have no power but in their owne 
Church. 

22s In a copy of thefe queftions (in "Whether fuch as never had ordina- 
fhort-hand) in Lechford's Ms. Journal, tion or impofition of hands of the 
the words "to approve thereof" are Presbyterie themfelves, may warrant- 
added at the end of the firft queftion. ably impofe hands upon any to the 

"6 In the manufcript (fhort-hand), miniftry? and if they do, whether it 

the third queftion reads as follows : be good ? " 



Newes from New-England. 129 

To the fecond and third ; The fecond and tliird Qiicf- 
tiofis are coincident, and one Anfwer may ferve for both : 
The Children of Ifi^acl did impofe hands upon the Lc- 
vites, Num. 8. 10. and if the people have power to elecl 
their owne officers, they have power alfo to ordainc 
them ; for Ordination is but an Inftallment of a man into 
that I office, whereto election giveth him right, neverthe- 56 
leffe fuch a Church as hath a Prcsbyterie, ought to ordaine 
their Officers by a Presbyterie, according to i Tim. 4. 14. 

This Anfiuer was brought 7ne by Majler Oliver, one of 
the Elders, and Mafier Pierce, a Brother of Bofton. 

When I was to come away, one of the chief ejl^^'' in the 
Comitry wifJied 7ne to deliver him a note of what things 
I miflikcd in the Coimtjy, which I did, thus : 

I doubt, 
I. T T rHether fo much time ffiould be fpent in the 
V V publique Ordinances, on the Sabbath day, bc- 
caufe that thereby fome neceffary duties of the Sabbath 
muft needs be hindered, as vifitation of the fick, and 
poore, and family. 

2. Whether matters of offence fliould be publiquely 
handled, either before the whole Church, or ftrangcrs. 

"7 This may have been the new whom Lechford appears to have 
governor, Richard Bellingham, with maintained very friendly intercourfe. 

17 



130 Plaine dealings 



3. Whether fo much time Ihould be fpent in particular 
catechizino^ thofe that are admitted to the communion of 
the Church, either men or women ; or that they fliould 
make long fpeeches ; or when they come publiquely to 
be admitted, any lliould fpeak contradi6lorily, or in 
recommendation of any, unleffe before the Elders, upon 
juft occafion. 

4. Whether the cenfures of the Church fliould be 
ordered, in publique, before all the Church, or ftrangers, 

57 other then the denunciation of | the cenfures, and pro- 
nunciation of the folutions. 

5. Whether any of our Natio7i that is not extremely 
ignorant or fcandalous, fliould bee kept from the Com- 
munion, or his children from Baptifme. 

6. That many thoufands in this Countrey have forgot- 
ten the very principles of Religion, which they were daily 
taught in England, by fet forms and Scriptures read, as 
the Pfalmes, firft and fecond Leffon, the ten Command- 
ments, the Creeds, and publique catecliizings. And al- 
though conceived Prayer''^ be good and holy, and fo pub- 
like explications and applications of the Word, and alfo 
neceffary both in and out of feafon : yet for the moft part 

22S " In conceived ^XTVj^x, the Spirit but prefcribed and impofed upon us 

of God within us teacheth us what to by the will, wifdom and authority of 

pray. . . . But in y?/;;/^?^ prayer, the men," &c. — Cotton's ^«/«/,?r/<? J/r. 

matter is not fuggefted or endited to BaWs Difcourfe, &c., ch. ii. IHaii- 

us by the Spirit of God within us, bury, ii. 159.] 



Neives from New-E^igland. 1 3 1 

it may be feared they dull, amaze, confound, difcourage 
the weake and ignorant, (which are the moft of men) 
when they are in ordinary performed too tedioufly, or 
with the negle6l of the Word read, and other premedi- 
tated formes inculcated, and may tend to more ignorance 
and inconvenience, then many good men are aware of 

7. I doubt there hath been, and is much negledl of 
endeavours, to teach, civilize, and convert the Indian 
Nation, that are about the Plantations. 

8. Whether by the received principles, it bee pojfiblc 
to teach, civilize, or convert them, or when they are con- 
verted, to maintain Gods worfliip among them. 

9. That eledorie courfes will not long be fafe here, 
either in Church or Common-wealth. 

10. That the civill government is not fo equally admin- 58 
iftred, nor can be, divers orders or by-laws confidered. 

11. That unleffe thefe things be wifely and in time 
prevented, many of your ufefulleft men will remove and 
fcatter from you. 

At Bojlon July 5. 1641. 



132 Plaine dealing. 



II Mat. 10. I. 
Mar. 3. 13. 
A61. I. 4. & 2. 47 
& 8. s- 6. & 9. 32 
35. & II. 19. 20. 
21. 26. 

^ Acts 8. 14. & 
9. 31.& II. 22. 27 
& 13. 2. 3. & 14 
21. to 28. 



Certain Quceres abont Church governfne^it, planting 
Churches, and fome other Experiments. 

I. T "![ /"Hether the people fliould cal the Minifter, or 
V V the Minifter ^ gather the people ? 

2. When a Church is gathered or planted ; fhould 
they not have a care in ^ propagating other Churches, in 
other places next them. 

3. Whether fliould not the firft Church " vifit the later 
la^ii^ 27. & Churches planted by them, to fee they keepe the faith 
IS. 36. 16. 4- ^^j order, as long as fliee remains herfelfe in purity of 

Do(5lrine and worfliip ? 

4. How fliall a Church propagate, and vifit other 
Churches ? fliall they do it by their members, ordinary 

d Acts 8. s- 14- Chrifl;ians, or by their Minifl;ers, ^ or Paflors ? fliall they 

& II. 22. 27. & -^ ' -I 

^\iat^ 23 I " ^^^^^^^ ^^^'"^ propagation, or flay, till, by their numbers 
Adis ^13. ., 2, 3. increafing, they are neceffitated to fwarme, or are perfe- 
cuted abroad ? 

/Ads 1.2,3,4. 5. If by their Pafl;ors, mufl not there bee more ^ Min- 

& 2. 47. & 13. 1. 

ifl;ers then one in the firfl Church ? how elfe can any 

be fpared to goe abroad about fuch works upon occa- 

fion ? 

59 6. When they have planted other Churches, | mufl; not 

'" ^^' '■ ''' '^' the s firft Church take care for the providing of Elders or 

A Afl. 6. 6. & 14 

23. ■ Mmilters for thefe new planted Churches, and ^ ordain 



N ewes from New-England. 133 

them, and fometimes goe ' or fend fome to teach them, ' ^a. s. .4. & 

II. 22. 

and uphold the worfliip of God among them ? 

7. How can any preach, unleffe he be *" fent ? and how k Rom. 10. 15. 
can he be fent, unleffe by impofition of ' hands of the -^ Aa. 6. 6. & n. 

' J ^ 3. xTim. 4. 14- 

Presbytery of the firft Church ? 

8. If fo, hath not the firft Church and the Minifters 

thereof, Apoftlolical '" power in thefe thinos? '« Eph.4. ". 

^ ^ ... Aa. I. 25. & 8. 

9. But have all " Churches and Minifters this power.? .4. &■>. 22. 27- 

« Rom. 16. I. 

are they able? have they learned men enough, to ° water iCor. 3. 6. 

where they have planted 1 If fome fliould not be of the 

•' Quorum, as it were, in ordinations, and the like, what / = iim. .. 6. 

I Tim. 4. 14. 

order, peace, or unity can be expedled } compared. 

10. Againe, if all Churches and Minifters have this 
power, equally, to exercife the work Apoftolicall ; muft 
they not all then goe, or fend abroad, to convert the In- 
dians, and plant Churches .? and how can all be fpared 
abroad.? Are all ^ Apoftles.? all Euangelifts? where ,;,co 
were the body, if fo .? 

1 1. Will they not interfiere one upon another, and trcf- 
paffe upon one anothersMine, rule, or portion, which bleffed 
S. Paul condemned in thofe that entred into his labours.? 

12. When any other <■ Church, befides the * firft, hath f ;J^^ l^;-- ^ 
power and ability to propagate and bring forth other •'^ 
Churches, may flie not doe well fo to doe .? muft flic not ? 

in her fitting line, obferving peace, and holding commu- 
nion with I the firft, as long as they remain in purity 60 



_or. 12., 
19, 29. 



2 Cor. I. 
to the cud. 



134 Plaine dealing, 



both of them ? and if a fecond, why not a third, and a 
fourth, and fo forth to a competent number ? 

1 3. Whether the firft and other Churches alfo having 
power and abihty thus to propagate the Gofpell and plant 
Churches, may not be fitly called, prime, chief, or princi- 
V As Hierufa- p^H feats of tlic Cliurch, or '' chiefe Churches ? 

lein, Antioch, 



Ephefns, Acis ^ \. Whcthcr tliofc Churches fo o^athered, in one Kino-. 

11.26. ^ C ' o 

dome, Citie, or Principality, holding communion to- 
gether, may not be fitly, in regard of their unity in Doc- 
trine and worfliip, called the Church of fuch a Nation, or 
u Aas II. 22. Province, " City, or Countrey ? 

15. Whether is it probable, that the firfl Church Chrif- 

X Afts 1. 4, 15, tian, that wee reade of to be, at '^ Hierufalem, was onely 
26. & 2. 41. 

one congregation, or but as many as could meete in one 

place ? had they not among them twelve Apoflles, befides 

Elders, three thoufand, at once added, what ever number 

there was befides ? and had they fuch a large Temple or 

meeting-houfes at their command in thofe dayes ? 

16. Whether the word CImrcJi bee not diverfly taken 
in holy Scripture, and fometimes for a civill or uncivill 

j/Aa.io. 40. affembly or congreffion ? ^ Afts 19. 40. Ka\ xmra tlnm' 
anilvct rrjv tuxh^aiav, and when he had thus fpoken, he dif- 
miffed the affembly or Church ? 

Fitzherb. N.B.2-!' ij. Whcthcr aucicntly in j5';^^/^;^<^, fome fmall affem 

229 " For the word Ecchfia is al- bert's Natiira Brevium, 32. " In a 
ways intended a parfonage." Fitzher- qtiare impedit prafentare ad Ecclefi- 



Newes from New-England. 135 

blyes were not called Churches, as every | prefentativc 61 
Re6tory or Parfonage is called Ecclejia, when others that 
were greater were not fo called, as no Vicaridge, Dona- 
tive or Chappel is called Ecclcjia in our Law ? 

1 8. Whether the Re6lor, or Parfon that is a Presbyter 
in a Church, fliould, being alone, rule abfolutely by him- 
felfe, without the concurrence, advife, or fuperiour power 

of the Evangelifticall ^ Paftor of the Church, who had - ■ *-"«' 5 3 4. 
care in the plantation or eredlion of the Parfons Church ? 

19. If not; fhould the Vicar, Donative, Minifter or 
Chaplain ? 

20. But where they have ufed to rule more abfolutely, 
(as in fome peculiar jurifdi6lions in England) why may 
they not with the peace and unity of the Church, and by 
good advife, ftil doe the fame alway, with fubordination 
to the Evangelifticall leaders, and fit Chriftian, and Na- 
tionall Synods ? 

21. If the Parfon fliould not rule alone ordinarily, why 
fliould the principall leaders rule ordinarily alone without 
the advife and affiftance of a competent number of their 
Presbyters, who may afford them counfell ? Did not the 

holy Apoftles advife with the Elders =* fometinies ? is it-Aas.s.6. 
fafe for them or the whole ? 

22. But were there any Bifliops fuperintendent, over Objection. 

am, it is a good plea to the writ that be intended a paridi church." Lord 
it is but a Chapel ; for Ecdefia fliall Hale's Comment, in loco. 



136 Plaine dealings 



other Bifliops, or Presbyters, in the firft hundred years 
after Chrifts birth ? Did not Saint lames write his Gen- 
62 erall Epiftle to the twelve | Tribes, which were then fcat- 
tered abroad, no doubt, in many places, and therein men- 
-^ James 5. .4. tion for Rulcrs, onely '^ Elders? and S. Peter write his 
c I Pet. SI, 2. 3 generall Epiftle, and therein dire6l or command the "" El- 
ders not to over-rule the flock, the Lords inheritance ? 
where was the Order of Bifliops ? had not the Elders the 
rule ? might they not elfe have returned anfwer, that 
the command concerned not them, but a certaine Order 
of men, called Bifliops, above us ? 
Anfwer. 23. Were not the Apoftles and Euangelifts then liv- 
d Afts 1. 20. ing, '^ Bifliops, and fuperintendent overfeers ? had they 
e 2 Cor. II. 28. not the ^ care of all the Churches, in their lines ? did not 

& Chap. 10. 12. 

to the end. thcfc lioly Apoftlcs, S. lames and S. Peter, mention their 
owne names, in their Epiflles ? is it not plain, that Peter 
had over-fight upon thofe to whom he wrote, to fee that 
they did not over-rule, and take account of them, if they 
did? And did the Lord ordaine there fliould be fuch a 
fuperintendencie, onely for an 80. years, and not fonie 
equall correfpondent fuperfpe(?i;ion alfo in after-ages, when 
thofe extraordinary men fliould ceafe ? If fome had then 
the care of all the Churches, fliould there not be fome, 
in after-times, to have the care of fome, to a competent 
number of Churches, in their fitting lines, and as they 

/ a Cor. 8. 12. arc ^ ablc ? And though this Divine right be broken 



Newes from New-Engla7id. 137 



through the many groffe corruptions of fucceffions, and 
the Hke, yet is it not equall to obferve the firft Inftitution, 
as neere as may be, as we fay the equity of fome Lawes 
and Statutes among us is fometimes to be obferved, 
though I not in the Letter ? And why may not a chiefe 63 
Paflor be called a Bifliop, as well as an Elder, or any 
other officer heretofore fuperiour ? 

24. If ^ Pfalms, and Hymnes, and fpirituall fongs are s lip'i- 5 '9- 

I Cor. 14. 26. 40. 

to be fung in the Church, and to fmg melodioufly, and 
with good harmony, is the gift of God, and uncomely 
fmging a kind of fm in the holy Affemblies; why fliould 
not the chiefe leaders, and rulers of the Church, appoint 
fome, in their flead, to take care of the fmgings of the 
Church ? and may not fome be fitter to lead in fmging, 
then others ? and left they may fall out of their tunes to 
jarring, why may they not ufe the help of fome muficall 
inftruments? and left they fliould want able men this 
way, why fhould they not take care, that fome children 
be trained up in Mufique ? 

2^. Whether or no Chrift did not allow of a '' form of/. Ma.. 6. 9. su 

-J ergo adoriitc X'OS 

Prayer, and a Hiort one too ? will not the ' flrong allow ovtu,.^ 
the weak helps in Prayer? are not the befl Chriflians /;; ' 
often diftraded in long Prayers ? is it not eafier for the 
ftrong to pray, then for as flrong men to hear Prayer 
well? fhould thofe that are flrong Proficients in grace 
not be fatisfied, without all their weak brethren come to 



I.llkc 11.2. 

{0111. 15. I. 



138 Plaine dealings 



k Rom. 12. 16. tiie fai-jie pitch of hiorh fandification with themfelves ? 

Idipjuni in in- *-* 

vkevt/eutientes ; fhouM thcv DOt Tathei" ^ condefcend to the weaker? And 

noH alia fapien- 

tes, fed Jmmiii- althou^h it bc rare to tell of any a6tually converted by 

bus con/entientes. J J J 

aAuroif 7a7r«- formes of Prayer, and Scriptures read ; yet who can juftly 

vole, avvanayo- 

fievoi,hntconde- deny, but that much good hath been, is, and may for ever 

fcending to the 

humble. be done by fuch things that way, Sic?^^ ultimits i£lus 

64 quercimi non ccedit, extrema arena clepfydrain non exhaurit, 
as the lafl ftroak fells not the oake, nor the lafl fand ex- 
haufts the houre-glaffe ? ^^° 

/Aa. .024, 44, 26. Whether may not a man ' and his houfehold, a 

47, 48. & 16. 30. 

3i> 32. 33- ver3 
14. IS 



woman and her houfliold, a whole '" City, or Countrey, 

m Afts 8. 8, a King and his people, a whole Nation, be baptized, after 

12, 14. 

they are competently inftruded in the Religion of God. 
u Acioio. 27. Is it certain, that all that were baptized in " Corne- 

Aasio. lius his houfe, in the ° Gaolers houfe, in Lydids, in ^ 6'^:- 

P Ads 8. . . A- • 7 

5;Aas.8. maria, in ^ Corinth, were fuch true beleevers, as now 
good men require all thofe that joyne with them, to be, 
before they will receive them to the Communion of their 
r Adis. 8. 13. Church ? Were not "■ hypocrites admitted & baptized in 
wmparld.^' ' thc PHmitive Church, by the Apoftles and Evangelifls 
themfelves, being deceived by them ? Were not children 
circumcifed in the old Teflament, and baptized all along 
in the times of the New, fo received into the bofome of 
the Church ? 

230 "Quem admodum clepfydram hora, qua efle definimus, non fola 
non extremum ftillicidium exhaurit, mortem facit, fed fola confummat." — 
fed quidquid ante defluxit : fie ultima Seneca, Epijl. xxiv. 19. 



Newes from New-England. 1 39 



28. Could, or can ever any Nation, probably, be 
brought into the obedience of the Gofpel, poll by poll, in 
fuch manner as is imagined by the leaders of feparations ? 

29. If it be poffible, let them make experience, and 
try whether the Indians, or any other Heathen people, 
can be fo converted before the Greek Kalends. 

30. Whether there be any dire6l Scripture for the 
peoples choice of their chiefe Paftour ? Can there, ordi- 
narily, be a better election, then when the fupreame 
Magiftrate (who hath, at moft | times, the power of all 
the people, and fometimes their counfell in a regular 
way) joynes with a fele6l and competent number and 
company of Presbyters in the fame ? 

31. Whether any that have not fkill, grace, and learn- 
ing, to judge of the parties to be ordained, whether they 
be fit, and able to what they are to be ordained, may ^ or- ^, 
daine them ? 

32. Whether or no to maintain a defired purity or per- 
fedion in the Magiftracie, by eleaion of the people, thefe 
good men oi New- England, are not forced to be too ftricl 
in receivine the brethren, and to run a courfe tending to 
heathenifme ? 

33. Whether have not popular elcdions of chiefe 
Magiftrates beene, and are they not very dangerous to 
States and Kindomes? Are there not fome great myf- 
teries of State and government? Is it poffible, con ve- 



/ I Tim. 5. II. 
itus 2. 2. 



140 Plaine dealing. 



nient, or neceffary, for all men to attain to the knowledge 
of thofe myfleries, or to have the like meafure of knowl- 
edge, faith, mercifulneffe, wifdome, courage, magnanimity, 
patience ? Whence are Kings denominated, but from 
their fkill and knowledge to rule ? whereto they are even 
born and educated, and by long experience, and faithfull 
Counfellors enabled, and the grace and bleffmg of God 
upon all ? Doe not the wife, good, ancient, and renowned 
Laws of England attribute much, yea, very much truft 
and confidence to the King, as to the head and fupreame 
Governour, though much be alfo in the reft of the great 
body, heart and hands, and feete, to counfell, maintain, 
66 and | preferve the whole, but efpecially the Head ? 

34. Hence what government for an Englifliman but 
an hereditary, fucceffive, Ki7ig, ^ the /on of Nobles, well 

,0. .6, 17. counfelled and affifted ? 

35. Whether we the poflerity of the Church, and peo- 
ple of God, who now fee the tops of things onely, may 
fafely condemne the foundations, which we have not 
feen ? 

36. Whether is there not a difference between bare 
fpeculation, and knowledge joyned with found experience, 
and betweene the experience of Divines and people re- 
forming from out of fome deepe corruptions in Churches 
called Chriflian, and the experience of thofe that have 
converfed in and about planting, and building Churches, 



V Pio. 25. 3. 
Ecclef. 8. 4 & 



Newes from New-England. 



141 



where there was none before, or among Heathens ? what 
is art many times without experience ? 

37. Whether thofe Authors from Hierome^^"^ to Arch- 
Bifliop Adamfon,^^'' that alledge all Presbyters to be 
equall, and fliould alwayes have equall power and au- 
thority, had any great fkill, or will, or experience, in the 
propagation of Churches among heathens, or barbarous 
Nations ? 

38. If not, whether their Teftimony bee of that validity 
as is thought by fome ? If they had, whether they might 
not erre ? 

39. Whether meffengers fent by Churches, or Minif- 



231 " Haec propterea, ut oftendere- 
mus apud veteres eofdem fuilTe pref- 
byteros et epifcopos. . . . Sicut ergo 
presbyteri fciunt fe ex eccleliae con- 
fuetudine ei, qui fibi propofitus fuerit 
effe fubje(?tos, ita epifcopi noverint fe 
magis confuetudine quam difpofitionis 
dominicas veritate, presbyteris efle 
majores." Hieron. Coinineiit. in Tit. 
i. 5 [cited, with other paffages from 
Jerome's Commentaries and Epillles, 
in the Rev. Dr. De.xter's Congrega- 
tionalifm, pp. 94-96 ; where fee a care- 
ful digeft of authorities, from Clem- 
ent of Rome to Dean Alford, affirming 
the original equality of all presby- 
ters.] 

232 Patrick Adamfon, titular Arch- 
bifliop of Saint Andrew's, Scotland, 
1575-92, who had been a vigorous 



and uncompromifmg opponent of 
Presbyterianifm, near the clofe of his 
life fubfcribed " certain articles allow- 
ing presbyterial difcipline and con- 
demning the government epifcopai." 
"Whether he knew what was con- 
tained in them, or that he was in- 
duced thereto by a poor colleaion 
they gave him in the time (for fo the 
report went), or otherwife, it is uncer- 
tain," fays Bifliop Spottifwood. Hijl 
of the Church of Scotland (cd. Ruf- 
fel), ii. 415 ; comp. Calderwood's True 
Hifiory, 96 ; and Stephen, i. 299. 
Some years after the ArchbiHiop's 
death, thefe articles were printed, 
with the title of The Recantation of 
Maifler Patrick Adamfon, fome time 
ArchbifJiop of S. Androwes in Scot- 
lande. (n. p. 1598-) 



142 Plaine dealing, 



!i I Cor. 4. I 
& 2. lO. 



ters taking upon them to go to gather or plant Churches, 
and to ordain, or give the right hand of fellowlliip to 
67 Minifters in thofe Churches, | and to appeafe differences 
in Church affairs, are not Epifcopall a6ls?'^3 

40. Is Epifcopacie, or a fuperintendencie neceffary at 
Neiv-Enola7id, and is it not neceffary in more populous 
places ? Are there not fome, nay many depths and " myf- 
teries in Gods holy Word, the Scriptures, and certain 
Catholique interpretations, which tranfgreffed, the faith 
is hurt? Is it poffible, convenient, or neceffary for all 
men, nay all Miniflers, to attain the knowledge of thofe 
myfteries, or to have the like meafure of knowledge, faith, 
mercifulneffe, wifdome, patience, long fuffering, courage, 
whereby to be enabled to rule in the Church of God, 
whereto they are educated, tryed, chofen, and ordained? 
and do not the facred rules and Laws of God, of holy 
Church and of this Kingdome attribute much, yea very 
much truit and confidence to the chief Paftors, Leaders, 
and Rulers, the Fathers of the Church, efpecially to the 
Bifliops of the prime and Metropoliticall Churches, by the 
affiftance of, and with, and under the fupreame Magif- 
trate, the chiefe, the beft cement of government, though 
much be alfo in other members of the great body, the 
Church, to counfell, maintaine and preferve the whole in 
the faith, foundneffe, peace and unity, efpecially the chief 

233 See before, pp. 53, 54. 



Newes from New-England. 143 

leaders, when need requireth ? Hence what government 

for Chriftians in chief, but by pious, learned, Provincial} 

and Diocefan Bifliops, efpecially in England and Ireland! 

By the jujl examination of the whole, thofe that are pious 

and learned, may eafily gather, what good \ reafons I 68 
had, and have, to returne, as now humbly I doe, lo the 
Church of 'E\-\^2indi, for whofe peace, ptirity, and prof 
perity, is the daily prayer of one of her mofl ^inworthy 
fons, 

Clements Inne, 

Novemb. 16. i'64i.. 

Thomas Lechford. 



To a friendP^ 
Sir, 

HEre is a good Land, and yeelding many good com- 
modities, efpecially fifli, and furs, corne, and other 
richer things, if well followed, and if that popular elec- 
tions deftroy us not. It is a good Land, I fay, that m- 
ftruds us to repentance, when we confider what a good 
Land we came from, wliat good lawes and government 
we have left, to make experiments of governing our felves 
here by new wayes, wherein (like young Phyfitians) of 

.34 A copy of this letter, in (hort- In tlie margin are the words (alfo in 
hand, without date or addrefs, is in (hort-hand), "This is written. 
Lechford's Ms. Journal, pp. 164, 165. 



144 Plaine dealing, 



neceffity we muft hurt and fpoile one another a great 
while, before we come to fuch a fetled Common-wealth, 
or Church-government, as is in England. 

I thank God, now I underfland by experience, that 
there is no fuch government for Englifli men, or any 
Nation, as a Monarchy ; nor for Chriftians, as by a law- 
full Miniflerie, under godly Diocefan Bifliops, deducing 
their flation and calling from Chrift and his Apoflles, in 
defcent or fucceffion ; a thing of greater confequence 
69 then I ceremonies, (would to God I had known it fooner) 
which while I have in my place ftood for here thefe two 
years, and not agreeing to this new difcipline, impoffible 
to be executed, or long continued, what I have fuffered, 
many here can tell ; I am kept from the Sacrament, and 
all place of preferment in the Common-wealth, and forced 
to get my living by writing petty things, which fcarce 
finds me bread ; and therefore fometimes I look to plant- 
ing of corne, but have not yet here an houfe of my owne 
to put my head in, or any flock going : Whereupon I 
was determined to come back,^^^ but by the over-entreaty 
of fome friends,'^^ I here think to ftay a while longer, 
hoping that the Lord will fliortly give a good iffue to 
things both in our native Country, and Scotland, and 
here, as well as in all other his Majefties dominions. 

235 "To come back ////tf/r^/rtz/r/." — 236 "Of my wife and fome other 

Ms. copy. friends." — Idem. 



Newes from New-England. \ac 



I was very glad to fee my Lord Bilhop of Exctcrs 
Book; '^7 it gave me much fatisfadion. If the people 
may make Minifters, or any Minifters make others with- 
out an Apoftolicall '^^ Bifliop, what confufion will there 
be ? If the whole Church, or every congregation, as our 
good men think, have the power of the keyes, how many 
Bifliops then fliall we have ? If every Parifh or congre- 
gation be fo free and independent, as they terme it, what 
unity can we expe6t ? 

Glad alfo was I to fee Mafter Balls Book of the tryall 
of the grounds of Separation,-" both which are newly 
come over, and I hope will work much good among us 
here ? 

And whereas I was fometimes mif-led by thofe of opin- 
ion that Bifliops,'*° and Presbyters, & all Minifters, are of 

237 "For Epifcopacie by divine the Power of the Keys," &c. (1640, 
right." Idem. Bifhop Hall's A)!'//^,?- 4to, pp. 314-) See Hanbury's JAv/zt;- 
pacie by Divine Right ajferied—2i rials, ii. 46, 47, 156-63. In 1642, 
work undertaken at the requelt of Mr. Cotton publifhed •' A modell and 
Archbiihop Laud, and remodelled in clear Anfwer to Mr. Ball's Difcourfe 
conformity with his fuggeftions — was of Set Forms of Prayer," &c. John 
publiflied in 1640. Ball, whom Fuller pronounces '"an 

238 " Apollolicall or Evangelicall excellent fchoolman and fchoohnarter, 
Bifliop." — J/j. (T^?//. a painful preacher, and a profitable 

239 "A Friendly Trial of the Grounds writer," was minifter at Whitmore, 
tending to Separation : In a plain and near Newcaftle, in Staffordfliire. He 
modeft Difpute touching the lawful- died in 1640. Worthies of England, 
nefs of a Stinted Liturgy and Set (ed. 1840) iii. 23 ; Brook's Z/7W,ii. 440. 
Form of Prayer ; Communion in 240 " BiOiops dioccfan luere not of 
Mixed AlTemblies ; and, the Primi- divine right and tliat BifJiops. and 
tive Subjeft, and Firlt Receptacle, of Presbyters," &c. — J/.*', copy. 

19 



146 Plaine dealing, 



the fame authority ; When I came to confider the necef- 
fary propagation of the truth, and government of the 
Church, by experimental! foot-fleps here, I quickly faw 
my error : For befides, if the congregations be not 
united under one Diocefan in fit compaile, they are in 
a confufion, notwithftanding all their clafficall pretend- 
ments, how can the Gofpel be propagated to the Indians 
without an Apoftolicall^'^' Bifliop ? If any Church, or 
people, by the Kings leave, fend forth Minifters to teach 
and inftru6t the poore Indians in the Chriftian Religion, 
they muft have at leafl; Apoftolicall-"*- power to ordain 
Minifters or Elders in every congregation among them ; 
and when they have fo done, they have power of Vifita- 
tion where they plant : Nor can they without juft caufe-''^ 
be thrufl out from government without great impiety ; 
and where they have planted, that is their line or Dio- 
cefe. Thus I came to fee, that of neceffity a Diocefe, 
and Bifliop Diocefan, is very neere, if not altogether --^^ of 
Divine authority. 

I am alfo of opinion, that it were good for our Minif- 
ters to learne how to doe this work from fome of our 
reverend Bifliops in England, for I feare our Minifters 

241 " Apoftolicall or Evangelicall ^'^^ ThQ word?, '■'"without Ju/lcan/e^'' 
Bifhop." Idem. See before, pp. 59, are not in the Ms. copy. 

60, Queries 10-13. -■+-* This qualifying claufe, "very 

242 The Ms. copy has '■'• Evangel i- near, if not altogether," was inferted 
calV inftead of " Apoftolicall." on revifion. 



Newes from New-England. 147 

know not how to goe about it. Whether muft not fome 
Minifters learne their language ? It is a copious lan- 
guage, as I am informed, and they have as many words 
to expreffe one thing as we have. And when they teach 
Indians to pray, will they not teach them | by a forme? 71 
and how can Gods worfliip be maintained among igno- 
rant perfons without a forme } I am firme of opinion, 

* 

that the befl of us have been much beholding to the 
Word read, and formes of Prayer. 
From Boflon in N. E. 
lulii 28. 1640. 

TJiis Gentleman -^'' to whom I wrote, kindly returned me a 
wife anfwer, wherein is this pajfage : 

TO fpeak in briefe, I think now that New-England is 
a perfed model and fampler of the ftate of us here 
at this time; for all is out of joynt both in Church and 
Common-wealth, and when it will be better, God know- 
eth : To him we muft pray for the amendment of it, and 
that he will not lay on us the merits of our nationall and 
particular hnnes, the true caufe of all thefe evils. 
Dated out of Somerfet-fliire, 
Aprilis 27. 1 64 1. 

345 William Prvnne? He was a na- It was rumored in the summer of 
tive of Somerfetmire, and an old friend 1641 that he had fent money to Lech- 
of Lechford's. See the Introduction, ford to pay his passage to England. 



14^8 Plaine dealing, 



\ 



To anothc7% tJms :'^^'' 

N a word or two, we heare of great diflurbances in our 
deare native Countrey ; I am heartily forry, &c/^^ I 
befeech you take my briefe opinion ; We here are quite 
out of the way of right government both in Church 
and Common-wealth, as I verily think, and as far as I 
can judge upon better confideration, and fome pains 
72 taken | in fearching after the bottome of fome things. 
Some eledlorie wayes tend to the overthrow of King- 
domes : No fuch way for government of Engliflimen, as 
a Monarchic ; of Chriftians, as by Diocefan Bifliops -■♦^ 
in their line : Better yeeld to many preffures in a Mon- 
archic, then for fubje6ts to deftroy, and fpoile one 
another.-^^ If I were worthy to advife a word, I fliould 

M'^ The draft of this letter (in (liort- lows : " Right Worthy Sir. I fent 

hand) is in Lechford's Journal, p. 175, you at my firfl landing here an un- 

with this note (alfo in fhort-hand) add- wife letter of which I [deferved ?] to 

ed : '' This letter was fent by Mr. K. receive no anfwer. I can not forget 

to his father, Ralfe King, of Wat- my refpeft toward you and your wor- 

ford." It is not certain (nor, I think, thy and beloved family, my good lad3% 

probable) that it was rt</(r!'r^t?^ to Mr. and all your dear and hopeful chil- 

King. It may have been fent to dren, as in my [poor ?] fupplications I 

his care, to infure its fafe tranfmiffion remember dayly. In a word," &c. 
to the perfon to whom it was written. 247 " I am heartily forry that I had 

The day before its date, Lechford had ever Jiand in fome of the caufesT — 

drawn, for Thomas Talmadge and his Ms. [I think that I have not mif- 

brothers, a letter of attorney to Ralfe read the cipher, though the chara6lers 

King, of Watford, co. Herts, woollen are fo imperfeflly formed that I am 

draper, to receive for them certain not certain of the words italicized.] 
moneys in England. 248 "Or Evangelilts." — Ms. 

In the MS. the letter besfins as fol- 249 "As I fear we muft do here 



Newes from New-Engla7id. 1 49 

defire you to have a care, and fo all your friends, you 
prejudice not your eftate, or pofterity, by too much 
oppofing the Regall power: For I verily beleeve the 
Kings Majefty hath in generall a good caufe touching 
Epifcopacie : ^'° My reafons I could better deliver in 
prefence, if haply God give opportunity to fee you, or 
if you require it hereafter, I will be ready to prefent my 
thoughts unto you. All this, as I fliall anfwer before 
the Lord, without any by-refpe6ls. If you were here, I 
prefume you would fee more then I can, but I think you 
would be much of my mind/^' 

* From Bofton in N. E. 

Septemb. 4. 1640. 

To another of no meane rafik. 

Complaining of my fufiferings, and lliewing the rea- 
fons, defiring him to fend for me, that I might de- 
clare them to his perfon more effedually. 

From Bofton in N. E. March, 1640. 

lonc' before we come to any fettled- 20I. I owed you, of Mr. Hill. God's 
nefs either in Church or Common- will be done. I am not able to pay 
wealth." Ms., — but this was crofied it yet, but fhall be mindfull, God will- 
out on revifion. ing, to difcharye it as foon as I can. 

.so For " touching Epifcopacie," the I am thankful), and deHre to be yet 

Ms. reads, "againft the Sectaries." more thankfull to you for the loan 

35^ After this comes, in the copy, a of it. If you hear any thmg of me 

paragraph about matters of bufmefs. fpecially from Mr. Hookc or h.s w.le, 

" I hear that you [required ?] tliat pray keep an ear for me, for we have 



150 Plaine dealing., 



73 To another. 

'\/'Ou knew my condition and employment, and how 
-*- ill it went with me in E^igland, by reafon of the 
trouble of our friends, and my own danger therby. For 
my outward fubfiflence here, at this time, God knowes it 
is but meane ; fome fay it is my owne fault, and that I 
fland in my owne light, and you, and others may fo con- 
ceive ; but the God of heaven is my witneffe, I have 
endeavoured in all things to keep a good confcience, 
though fometimes I have failed ; I have endeavoured, 
laying all by-refpedls afide, to joyne with the Church 
here, but cannot yet be fatisfyed in divers particulars, 
whereby I am kept from all place of employment or pre- 
ferment, as I have had overtures made unto me of, if I 
would or could yeeld, but hitherto I have not dared to 
doe it, for good reafons befl; knowne to our heavenly 
Witneffe. I muft give you a tafte. 

They hold their Covenant conftitutes their Church, 
and that implyes, we that come to joyne with them, were 
not members of any true Church whence we came, and 
that I dare not profeffe. Againe, here is required fuch 
confeffions, and profeffions, both in private and publique, 

had fome \^feveral words erafed'\ and all yours to the guidance and . . . 

I wifli you knew how I am ufed : of his heavenly Majefty, refting yours 

For this time thus I take my leave in all fervice to be commanded. 
heartily recommending your Worfhip " Thomas Lechford." 



Newes from New-England. 



15 



both by men and women, before they be admitted, that 
three parts of the people of the Country remaine out of 
the Church, fo that in fhort time mofl of the people will 
remaine unbaptized,^^^ if this courfe hold, and is (we feare) 
of dangerous confequence, a thing not tending to the 



252 Robert Baylie, in A Diffuafive 
f7-07n the Errours of the Tii/ie, &c. 
(Lond. 1645), refers to this ftatement 
as his authority for the affertion that 
the fruits of the church-way of New 
England were, " firft, the holding-out 
of all their Churches and Chriltian 
Congregation many thoufands of Peo- 
ple, who in former time have been 
reputed in Old England very good 
Chriftians." In the Way of Congre- 
gational Chioxhes Cleared (the firft 
Part of which was written in reply to 
Bay lie's Dijfiiafcve), Mr. Cotton ex- 
amines Lechford's teflimony : " The 
Book is unfitly called plaine dealing, 
which (in refpe6l of many palTages in 
it) might rather be called falfe and 
fradulent. I forbear to fpeak of the 
man himfelf, becaufe foon after the 
publifhing of that Book, himfelf was 
called away out of the world to give 
account [&c.]. . . . That which he tef- 
tifieth, neither is it true ; neither if 
it were, doeth it reach Mr. Baylie's 
alTertion. It is not true, that three 
. parts of the Countrey remaine out of 
the Church, if he meane three parts 
of foure, no, though hee fliould take 
in thofe remote EnglifJi, who live a 
fcore of miles or more from any 
Church." Pt. i. pp. 7I) 72- 



Right or wrong as to the propor- 
tion of non-members, Lecliford was 
not the firft to complain of the ftriCl^- 
nefs in admiffion to church privileges 
and of the virtual exclufion thereby 
of a confiderable, if not the greater, 
part of the people. Mr. Stansby, min- 
ifter of Little Waldingfield, co. Suffolk, 
in a letter to the Rev. John Wilfon, 
dated April 17, 1637, mentions as 
matter of grief, " that you [of MalTa- 
chufetts] are fo ftrift in admiffion of 
members to your church, that more 
then one halfe are out of your church 
in all your congregations, & that Mr. 
Hoker [Thomas Hooker] before he 
went away preached againrt yt (as one 
reports who hard him) (& he faith) 
Now although I knowe all mull not 
be admytted, yet this may do mucli 
hurt," &c. " There is now," he adds, 
"fo much talke of yt, & fuch cer- 
teyne truth of yt, & I know many of 
worth, for outward eftate & abiiit\-, 
for wifdome & grace, are much danted 
from comeing." 4 ^^faf- IHft. Coll., 
vii. 1 1. Comp. Hooker, Survey, pt. 3, 
p. 6, —cited in note 12, p. 7» ante. 

See, alfo, W. Rathband's Briefe 
Narration of fome Chunk Courf-s 
in New England, (London, 1644-) 
pp. 9, 10. 



152 Plaine dealings 



74 propagation of the Gofpel in peace : Which, though it 
have a colour of fan(5timony and ftri6lneffe, whereby 
many well-affe6ted or affeftionate people, but weak in 
found experience and judgement, are the rather drawn 
thereunto, and they are in a manner neceffitated to it, to 
maintaine their eledtion of Magiflrates and Miniflers in 
their owne way of popular or Ariflocraticall government; 
I dare not (for my part) yeeld unto neither in my own 
confcience, nor for the credit of thofe perfons v/ith whom 
I have been educated, and in whofe caufes I have been 
feen. A Monarchy is the beft government for Englifli- 
men ; better to fuffer fome preffures under that kind of 
government, then to fpoile one another with popular 
eledlions. Againe, I cannot yeeld to Lay-Elders, nor 
that Lay-men fliould impofe hands upon any to the 
Minifterie, nor that any Minifler fliould renounce his 
calling to the Minifterie which he received in Eiigland, 
as Antichriftian : It is a groffe error, and palpable 
fchifme ; then our Baptifme is not right, and fo there 
will be no end of feparations. Alfo I beleeve there 
cannot be a Church, without a true Minifter; nor can 
any gather themfelves together into a Church without 
a true Minifter; nor can they ordain their own Min- 
ifters ; ordinarily, I meane ; what may be done in an 
extraordinary cafe, pro prima vice, is another queftion ; I 
hold there ought to be an Apoftolicall Bifliop, by fuccef- 



Newes from New-England. 153 



fion from Chrift and his Apoftles, fuperiour in order or 
degree to his brethren ; which Bifliop ought to ordain, 
and I rule with other Presbyters, or alone, but Presbyters 75 
cannot without him. And if fo be any thing in word or 
ad paffed from mee to the contrary hereof, I do profeffe 
it was in my ignorance. Their calling is of Divine au- 
thority, or nearefl: thereunto, elfe the Church of God 
could not have fubfifted in any tolerable way of peace, 
through all this by-paft time of 1600. yeeres. I feare 
they know not what they fay, that fay the contrary : let 
them come here, they will quickly change their minde, if 
they ftudy the point, and follow it home ; for, befides the 
keeping of peace and unity, and a pure and able learned 
Miniftery, how can the Gofpell be propagated without 
fome fpeciall Minifters, having the power Apoflolicall, to 
goe forth to convert Indians or Pagans? ^''^ If a Paftor, 
or Miniller, or Chriftian, of any Church fliall doe fo, what 
hath he to doe with Infidels t as hee is a Paftor, he is no 
Paftor to them. Therefore if any are fent to convert, 
and eftabliOi Churches among Infidels, fuch as are fent 
are Apoftolick Meffengers, Bifliops or Minifters to them, 
and ought to be fent with fafting and Prayer, and by 
impofition of hands of the Presbytery, and having con- 
verted Infidels, may plant Churches, and ordain Minifiers 
among them, and afterwards vifit them ; and is not this 

253 See before, pp. 21, 70; .ind Cotton's Way Cleared, pt. i. pp. 78, 79- 



154 Plaine dealing, 



Epifcopacie, and their line wherein they have gone their 
Dioceffe ? Thefe things naturally flow from, and are 
grounded in the Word, or equity thereof, and meere 
neceffity. Now if all Minifters fliould ordinarily have 
76 this authority, to go forth to thefe works, | without mif- 
fion, what quarelling there would be for divifion of Lines 
or Diocefes, let the experience of former ages tell, yea of 
the Apoftolique times, wherein were not wanting thofe 
that quarelled with Saint Paul himfelfe, about his Line 
or rule, 2 Cor. 10. Now unto this confufion, tends the 
opinion, that faith, a Bifliop and Presbyter is all one and 
equall ; it is of Acrms,-'"'^ it is falfe, and it is confufion. 
The reformed Churches and Writers that held fo, had lit- 
tle experience of miffion to convert & and plant Churches 
among Lnfidels. That reformation goes too deep that 
tends to pulling downe of Cathedrall Churches, and Bifli- 
ops houfes : Should not Apoftolick Bifliops, and the 
chiefeft Minifters have houfes to dwell in, and Churches 

-54 For^^^-r/V/j,— the nameof apref- tr/ibus, c. liii. ; Epiphanius, Harcjis 

byter of Sebafte, in Leffer Armenia, 75 (ed. Patav., pp. 905-912.) 

about the middle of the fourth cen- Bifliop Hall, in Epifcopacie by Di- 

tury, who was the founder of a confid- 7>iiie Right ajfcrted, which Lechford 

arable feft called Aerians. He taught had recently been reading (fee before, 

that no difference ought to be recog- p. 69), mentions that "branded her- 

nized between a bifliop and a presby- etic Aerius," as "the only founder 

ter. He alfo condemned prayers for and abettor ... in all the world of hif- 

the dead, ftated fafts, and the celebra- tory and record," of the opinions held 

tionofEafter. — Mofheim's^'f^/. ////?., by the difparagers of epifcopacy. — 

bk. ii. pt. 2, ch. 3 ; Augufline, De Hce- Works (ed. Wynter), ix. 246. 



Newes fro7n New-England. 1 5 5 



to recide and officiate in, whither all the Churches of 
their Line may fend and come together in Councel, or 
Synod, and fo do nothing of great moment without their 
Bifliop, a Timothy, or a Titus? Again, Baptifme is ad- 
miffion and initiation into the Church ; to whom Bap- 
tifme is committed, viz. Apoftles and Apoftolick Minif- 
ters, they have power of admiffion, that is, of loofmg, and 
confequently of binding, excommunication or expulfion. 
Where is now the peoples power in the keyes ? are they 
all Apoftles, and Apoftolick Minifters ? what confufion is 
this? who can yeeld to it knowingly? I befeech you 
pardon my zeale, and when you have confidered all, pity 
my condition, and pray for me ftill. Well I am affured, 
that mafter Prynne^-='= & mafter Biu^ton would never yeeld 
to thefe things, efpecially, | if they had experience of "ii 
them. It is good for us to fee our errours, and acknowl- 
edge them, that we may obtain peace in the day of ac- 
count. ^ _ ^ 

Bojlon, 13. on. 1640. 



To another. 

Orry and grieved we are at the heart, to heare of the 
troublous eftate and condition of our native coun- 
trey; wee here alfo meete with our troubles and diftrelles 

355 Refpeding Lechford's relations fufferers, Balhvick and Burton, lee tl>c 
with William Prynne and his fellow- Introduclion to this ed.t.on. 



S 



156 Plaine dealings 



in outward things, and fome in fpirituall matters alfo. 
Here wants a ftaple commodity to maintain cloathing to 
the Colony. And for my own particular, hitherto I have 
beene much diftrelTed here by reafon I cannot yet fo 
clearely underftand the Church proceedings, as to yeeld 
to them, there are therein fo many difficult confidera- 
tions, that they have fometimes bred great confufion in 
my thoughts. Never fmce I faw you have I received 
the Sacrament of the Lords Supper. I have difputed in 
writing, though to my great hinderance, in regard of out- 
ward things, yet bleffed be the Lord, to my better fatif- 
fadlion at the lafl. I never intended openly to oppofe 
the godly here in any thing I thought they miftooke, but 
I was lately taken at advantage, and brought before the 
Magiftrates, before whom, giving a quiet and peaceable 
anfwer, I was difmiffed with favour, and refped promifed 
^ me by fome of the chiefe for the future.'^'' Our chiefe 
difference was about the foundation of the Church and 

2s6 "I am fummoned to appear in verfies, was difmifled." — Ma/s. Col. 

Court to-morrow, being the ift of Rec, i. 310. 

loth, 1640. The Lord God direfl Hon. James Bowdoin, introducing, 

me, &c." — Short-hand note in Lech- in his Note to the Hiftorical Society's 

ford's Journal, p. 1 76. reprint of Plaine dealing, this ex- 

" A Quarter Court held at Bofton traft from the Records, remarked : 

the Firll: Day of the loth Mo- 1640. "No allufion has ever been made to 

. . . Mr. Thomas Lechford, acknowl- the caufe of [this decree] ; but it feems 

edging hee had overfliot himfehe, & to have been confidered as referring 

is forry for it, promifmg to attend his to the firil [of Sept. 3, 1639, by which 

calling, & not to meddle wt'^ contro- Lechford was debarred from plead- 



Newes from New-England. 



157 



Miniftery, and what rigid reparations | may tend unto, 
what is to be feared, in cafe the moft of the people here 
fhould remaine unbaptized ; confiderations which may 
trouble the wifeft among us. Rigid feparations never 
did, nor can propagate the Gofpell of Chrifl, they can do 
no good, they have done hurt. It is dangerous to found 
Church government on dark & uncertain interpretations 
of Propheticall, or other Scriptures ; foundations ought 
to be full of evidence, & demonflration. Bleffed be the 



ing]. The language, however, leads 
me to a different conclufion ; but to 
what it does refer, I know not." — 
3 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., iii. 400. 

Lechford's Jotirnal contains the 
draft (in fhort-hand) of his " quiet and 
peaceable anfwer." He ftates that 
he appeared before the Court in obe- 
dience to a warrant fent forth againft 
him, on an information by the Grand 
Jury, in September; but "fmce that 
time (he fays) the General Court [of 
Odlober 7th] was pleafed to fay fome- 
thing to me, when they brake up, as 
for good counfel to me, about fome 
tenents and difputations which I 
have held ; advifing me to bear my- 
felf in filence and as became me. . . . 
According to that advice I have been 
hitherto, and fhall, God willing, be 
ready to carry myfelf for hereafter. . . . 
I defire not to trouble your Worfiiips 
with long fpeech, to divert or hinder 
your other occafions ; [I)ut, waiving 
all the forms of trial and proof of the 



matters charged,] I defire your Wor- 
fhips to be pleafed to accept of this 
my fhort acknowledgment that I 
have, I do confefs, too far meddled 
in fome matters of church govern- 
ment and the like which I am not 
fufficient to underftand or declare ; 
and although once I thought myfelf 
bound in confcience to fay fome of 
thofe things I have faid, yet now I 
am afhamed of many of them." 

It will be obferved that the "fliort 
acknowledgment" is very adroitly 
framed. What things, formerly faid, 
he is now afhamed of, or what mat- 
ters of church government he had 
unadvifedly meddled with, he leaves 
the court to conje6\ure. In letters 
to his friends at home, he was more 
explicit. See before, pp. 74, 75- 

Perhaps the offence for which he 
was called to anfwer may have had 
fome conneclion with the quel^ions he 
proposed " to the Elders of Bofton," 
Sept. 9, 1640. See before, p. 55. 



78 



158 Plaine dealing, 



Lord, now fome of the chiefe leaders of the Churches 
here hold the Churches in Ejtgland true Churches, and 
your Miniftery lawfull, though divers corruptions there 
may be among you;^" yea fome there bee of the chiefe 
among us that conceive the government by godly Bifliops 
fuperintendent over others to be lawfull/^^ Churches are 
not perfe6l in this world. We may not for every difa- 
greement in opinion, or for (lender pretended corrup- 
tions, feparate from the Church : feparate fo once, and 
no end of feparation. 

From Bofton 271 N. E. 
Decern, 19. 1640, 



To conclude. 

OUppofe there are foure forts of Government, which 
*~^ are ufed in Church, as in Common-wealth ; Mon- 

archicall abfolute without Lawes, which is tyrannic ; 

257 Baylie (in A Dijfuafivc froin Minilters before me :) neither have I 

the Errours of the Ti/ne, &c.) quoted fallen to the liking of the contrary 

a private letter in which Mr. Cotton opinion fuice. But the Diffuader is 

had declared that it was "an error, much deceived, if he take that Error 

to conceive that our Congregations to be the judgment of the Churches 

in England are none of them particu- of New-England, howfoever fome 

lar reformed Churches." " I willing- particular perfons may lean that way." 

ly acknowledge," wrote Mr. Cotton, Way cleared, pt. i. p. i8. 

in his reply to Baylie's book, "I did Comp. Welde's Anfwer to W. R. 

appear againft that Error. But nei- Jiis N^arration, pp. 45, 46, and 24. 

ther was I the tirft that did appear 258 " Let no man think he [Lech- 

againft it, (but divers godly Englifh ford] was kept out of our Churches, 



Newes from New-England. 159 



Monarchical! bounded by Lavves ; Ariftocraticall, and 
Democraticall : Epifcopall abfolute, which is Popifli 
tyrannic; | Epifcopall regulated by juft Lawes ; Presby- 79 
terian, and Congregationall : Which of thefe will all men 
like, and how long? Some have well compared the 
humour of the people in this kind, to a merry relation of 
an old man and his fonne, paffmg through the ftreets of a 
City, with one horfe betweene them : Firft, the old man 
rode, then the people found fault with his unkindneffe, in 
that he did not caufe his fon to ride with him : then the 
young man gets up too, now the people fay they are both 
unmercifull to the beast : downe comes the old man, then 
the young man is unmannerly to ride, and his father 
walk on foot: at laft downe goes the young man alfo, 
and leads the horfe, then they were both unwife to lead 
the horfe, and neither of them to ride. Well, but alter 
the inconftant vulgar will ; if fo, God grant it be for the 
better. But then confider ftories, one alteration follows 
another; fome have altered fixe times, before they were 
fetled againe, and ever the people have paid for it both 
money and bloud. 

Concerning Church-Government, what the Presbyterian 
way is, and how futable for Englands Monarchic, I leave 

for maintaining the authority of Bifh- or Prcsbyteriall, or Congre^^alUmall 

ops. For we have in our Churches Government, fo be it they governe ac- 

fome well refpeaed Brethren, who doe cording to the rules of the Gofpel. 

indifferently allow either Epifcopall, - Cotton, IVaf cleared, pt. i, p. 7 ' • 



i6o Plaine dealings 



to the pious experienced Divines to fet forth, and the 
Church and State thereof to judge. 

And for the Congregationall independent government, 
whereof I have had fome experience, give me leave in- 
ftead of a better intelHgencer thus to prefent to my deare 
countrey, now in a time of neede, my impartiall opinion 
80 in thefe confufed | papers: And in brief thus: Although 
it had fome fmall colour in Scripture, and a great pre- 
tence of holineffe, yet no found ground in the Scripture ; 
Again, if it be neither fit nor poffible long to bee contin- 
ued in New-England, as not I alone, but many more eye 
and eare witneffes doe know, and the learned can and 
will judge undoubtedly, it muft needes be much more 
unfit and impoffible to be brought into England, or Ire- 
land, or any other populous Nation. 

All which upon the whole I humbly fubmit unto the 
facred judgment and determination of holy Church, his 
royall Majefty, and his Highneffes great and honourable 
Councel, the high Court of Parliament. 



Imprimatur, 

I oh : Hanjley. 



FINIS. 



INDEX. 




INDEX. 



ABORIGINES, their conversion 
neglected, 54, 55. 
Adams, William, of Roxbury, 89. 
Adamson, Patrick, 141. 
Administration of the Lord's Supper, 

45-48 ; of Baptism, 47, 48. 
Admission of church-members, 18-29. 
Advocates in court not allowed, 68. 
Allen, Thomas, of Charlestown, 52,82. 
Allin, John, of Dedham, 83. 
Alvord, Benedict, 88. 
Angier, Sampson, no. 
Animals, domestic, 109; wild, in. 
Ann, Cape, 106, 112. 
Apostles' creed, exceptions to some 

articles of the, 27. 
Appeals to the king not allowed, 64. 
Aspinwall, William, 64. 
Assistants, how nominated, 60, 61. 

BACON, Leonard, quoted, 33, 
34. 

Baptism, administration of, 47, 48. 

Bastwick, John, his severe sentence, 
xvi. 

Batchelor, Stephen, of Lynn, Yar- 
mouth, and Hampton, 85. 

Baylie, Robert, 54 ; his statements 
relative to the effect of New-Eng- 
land Congregationalism denied, 151. 

Beggars rare, 69. 



Bellingham, Richard, governor, 35, 

86, 129. 
Bells, what churches had them, 44. 
Bilson, Bishop, his opinions on the 

descent of Christ into hell, 27. 
Bishop, John, 91. 
Bishops, diocesan, indispensable, 142. 

144, 148. 
Blackman, or Blakeman, Adam, of 

Stratford, 10 1. 
Blackstone, William, 97. 
Blackstone's Commentaries, quoted, 

32. 
Blackwood, Christopher, 93. 
Blinman, Richard, 92, 107, 125, 126, 

127. 
"Body of Liberties" in 1641, its gen- 
eral character, 62. 
Boteler, Lady Alice, wife of George 

Fenwick, 97, 98. 
Bowdoin, James, xxxviii.; his remarks 

on a MS. copy of " Plain Dealing," 

xxxix. 
Bracket, Richard, 86. 
Bradstreet, Simon, 86, 125. 
Braintree, a church formed there, 41. 
Brinley, George, Dedication, 100. 
Britton, or Brittaine, James, whipped 

for disrespect, 58, 94; hanged for 

adultery, 58. 
Browne, Edmund,ofSudbury,xviii.,83. 

203 



204 



INDEX. 



Buckley, or Bulkley, Edward, of 
Marshfield, 126. 

Bulkley, Peter, of Concord, his ordi- 
nation, 16, 86. 

Burdett, George, his misconduct, 105. 

Burials, how conducted, 87, 88. 

Burr, Jonathan, of Dorchester, 81. 

Burton, Henry, his trial and severe 
sentence, xv. 

Burton, Mr., xix. 

Burton, Thomas, a petitioner with 
Robert Child, 82. 

CAPAWACK, or Martha's Vine- 
yard, 108. 

Cape Ann, 106, 112. 

Call of a Church, essential to ordina- 
tion, 16, 17. 

Cambridge Platform quoted, 32. 

Catechising of children, 53, 54. 

Charitable contributions, 48, 49. 

Chancey, Charles, 89 ; his opinions 
on baptism, 90. 

Cheever, Ezekiel, the father of New- 
England schoolmasters, 99. 

Chickataubut, sachem of Neponset, 
121. 

Child, Robert, and others, their pe- 
tition, 63, 64, 82. 

Chirography, what it was in Lech- 
ford's time, xiv. 

Christ's descent into hell, not neces- 
sary to be beheved, 27. 

Church, manner of gathering one, 1 2 ; 
church covenant, ib.j church offi- 
cers, election of, 13 ; ordination of, 
ib.; church members, how received, 
18-23; offending, how to be dealt 
with, 34, 35 ; no others can be free- 
men, 59 ; church censures, 30-34 ; 
churches not to be gathered with- 



out notice to magistrates and other 
churches, 'j^y ; how few may form a 
church, ib.; the Church, its relation 
to the State, 127 ; church govern- 
ment of New England disapproved 
by Lechford, 132-143 ; may a peo- 
ple form a church without a minis- 
ter .'' ib.; " The Church, her Liber- 
ties," 72. 

Civil franchise dependent on church- 
membership, 59. 

Clapboards, primary meaning of, 1 1 1. 

Clark, John, of Newport, 94. 

Clement's Inn, xiii., xvii. 

Climate, severe, 114. 

Cobbett, Thomas, of Lynn, 84. 

Cole, WiUiam, and wife Elizabeth, 
employ Lechford in a suit at law, 
xxvii. 

Confession of faith, how made, 19-23. 

Conversion of the natives, 54, 74, jy. 

Cotton, John, of Boston, xxi., xxiv., 
XXXV., xxxvi., 81; his "Sermon of 
the Twelve Articles," 25 ; his Lec- 
tures on Revelation, 52, printed in 
London, ib.; his writings quoted, 
xxiv., xxxv., xxxvi., 13, 14, 17, 21, 

27> 30-37? ^^ •5'^A- 

Cotton manufacture, no. 

Court, General, meet semi-annually, 
62 ; its powers, 63 ; place of meet- 
ing, 64. 

Courts, Quarterly, 63. 

Covenant, church, 12. 

D ALTON, Timothy, of Hampton, 
85, 125. 
D'Aulnay, his quarrel with La Tour, 

108. 
Davenport, John, of New Haven, 99. 
Day, Stephen, the first printer, 123. 



INDEX. 



20: 



Days of the week and month, how 
designated, 54. 

Deacons and deaconesses, their du- 
ties, 24. 

Decline in prices, 113. 

Denton, Richard, of Stamford, 97. 

Diocesan bishops, needful, 142, 144, 
148. 

Douch, or Dutch, Osmond, 106. 

Doughty, Francis, of Taunton, his 
diiiticulties, xxvii., 91, 92, 126. 

Dover, 102, 103, 125. 

Downing, Emanuel, xviii., 71. 

Drums used to call people to public 
worship, 44. 

Drunkenness rare, 69. 

Dudley, Thomas, deputy-governor, 
his character, xxii.; Lechford con- 
sults him, ib.j his letter to Win- 
throp concerning Lechford's errors, 
ib.; mentioned, 86. 

Dunster, Henry, of Cambridge, 82 ; 
commended, 122 ; his marriage, 123. 



ELECTION of governor and ma- 
gistrates, how conducted, 59. 

Election-day, when, 61. 

Eliot, John, of Roxbury, 81. 

Endicot, John, 86. 

England, laws of, not binding here, 
62, 63. 

Equality, original, of all presbyters, 
141. 

Episcopal ordination, how regarded, 
16. 

Excommunication, how pronounced, 
30 ; a law concerning, 32. 

Excommunicated persons, how treat- 
ed, 31-34- 

E.xeter, 106. 



FELLOWSHIP of the churches, 
how expressed, 14. 

Fenwick, George, of Saybrook, 97, 98. 

Firmin, Giles, of Ipswich, 84. 

Fishing-business, no. 

Fisk, John, of Wenham, 84. 

Hax, cultivation of, no. 

Flint, Henry, of Braintree, 41, 81. 

Foote, Joshua, xxxvi. 

Fordham, Robert, of Sudbury, 83. 

Forms of Prayer, 137. 

FowIe, Thomas, a petitioner witli 
Robert Cliild and others, no. 

Freemen must first be church-mem- 
bers, 29, 59 ; their oath, 61. 

Frost, William, 10 1. 

Fuller, Samuel, 57. 

Funerals, how conducted, 87. 



GENERAL COURT, how often 
held, 62 ; place of meeting, 64. 

George Ragotzki, or Rakoczy, Prince 
of Transylvania, xvii. 

Gerrard, George, his letter to the Earl 
of Strafford, xii. 

Gill, Thomas, 82. 

Glover, Henry, an excommunicated 
man at New Haven, 34. 

Glover, Josse, 123 ; his widow Eliza- 
beth marries Henry Dunster, ib. 

Gorges, Thomas, 104, 105. 

Gorton, Samuel, 94, 95. 

Governor and magistrates, how cho- 
sen, 59. 

Grafton, Joseph, 107. 

Grand juries, 64. 

Green's Harbor, sec Marslificld. 

Grey, Henry, 101. 

Grey, John, loi. 

Grievances, 89. 



206 



INDEX. 



HALLET, Andrew, 93. 
Hartford, when it first had a 
bell, 44. 

Heaton, Nathaniel, xix. 

Hewes, Joshua, xxxvi. 

Hewit, or Huit, Ephraim, 97. 

Hibbins, William, of Boston, xxxvi. 

Higginson, John, of Guilford and Sa- 
lem, 98. 

Hobart, Peter, of Hingham, 82. 

Hooke, William, of Taunton, 90, 126. 

Hooker, Richard, 80. 

Hooker, Thomas, of Hartford, 97 ; 
' quoted, 14, 17, 22, 30, 31, 39, 51, 57. 

Humfrey, John, 86, 99, 114, 125. 

Hurd, John, xix. 

Hutchinson, Samuel, xix. 



I 



NDEPENDENCY of churches, 
36. 

Indians, their manners, character, 
habits, government, religion, &c., 
1 1 5-1 22 ; they obtain fire-arms from 
the French and Dutch, 117; their 
powahes, or priests, 117; their con- 
dition improved from intercourse 
with the English, 117, 118; their 
rehgion, 120 ; names of their chiefs, 
121 ; their conversion at present 
neglected, 54, 55 ; cannot be con- 
verted but by ministers episcopally 
sent, 153. 

Inns of Chancery, why so called, xiv. 

Inordinate church-going, 52. 

Iron- works, in. 

Isle of Sable, 107, 108. 

Isle of Shoals, 107, no. 

JACOB, Henry, a "Treatise" by 
him noticed, 27. 
James, Thomas, of Charlestown, 99. 



Jealousy of church power, yj. 

Jenner, Thomas, of Roxbury, Wey- 
mouth, and Saco, 81, 105. 

Jennison, Samuel, of Worcester, be- 
comes the possessor of Lechford's 
MS. Journal, ix. 

Jennison, Samuel, of Boston, x. 

Jewel, John, Bishop of Salisbury, 80. 

Jones, John, of Fairfield, 86 ; ordained 
at Concord, 16. 

Josselyn, John, "]"]. 

Juries, liberty of challenge restricted, 
66. 

KEAYNE, Robert, xix., xxiii., 
xxxiv., 126. 
Keys, power of the, in the church, 

30- 
Kingly government preferred by the 

author, 140, 144, 148, 152. 
Knight, William, of Ipswich and 

Topsfield, 84. 
Knowles, John, of Watertown, 18, 28, 

83. 
Knowles, or KnoUys, Hansard, 102, 
103 ; his difficulty with Larkham, at 
Dover, 124. 

LARKHAM, Thomas, of Dover, 
103 ; quarrel with Knollys, 124. 

Lashford, Sir Richard, xiii. 

La Tour, his quarrel with D'Aulnay, 
108. 

Laud, William, Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, xii., XV. 

Laws of Moses followed, 65. 

Lawyers held in small esteem, 68. 

Lay ordination, 13. 

Lechford arms, xiii. 

Lechford, Sir Richard, xi., xii.; his 
daughters detained in England, xii.; 



INDEX. 



207 



refuses the oath of allegiance, xii.; 
xiii. See Lashford. 
Lechford, Thomas, his MS. Jour- 
nal, ix.; his family connections, xi.; 
account of him, xiii.; his account 
of himself, xiv., xv.; a lawyer, xiii., 
4 ; a solicitor for Prynne in his trial 
before the Star Chamber, xv., xvii.; 
comes to Boston, xvii.; date of his 
arrival, xviii.; his wife, xviii., xix.; 
regarded in Boston with distrust, 
and why, xix., xx.; differs from the 
belief of the colonial churches, xx.; 
his alleged errors, xxi.; his letter 
to Hugh Peters, xvii., xxii., xxiv.; 
unsuccessful and disappointed in 
Boston, XXV.; his proposal to the 
General Court, xxv., xxvi.; his au- 
tograph, xxvi. ; employed in the 
case of William Cole against Fran- 
cis Doughty, xxvii. (see Doughty) ; 
his indiscretion, ib.; censured by 
the court, ib.; his confession of his 
fault, xxviii. ; obtains employment 
from the magistrates, xxix.; coun- 
sels submission to the king, xxx.; 
dislikes popular government both 
in Church and State, xxxi.; becomes 
obnoxious to the magistrates, ib.j 
yet treated with remarkable lenity, 
xxxii.; summoned before the court, 
xxxiii.; censured, xxxiii., 156; sub- 
mits, xxxiii., 157 ; implicated in the 
famous "sow case," xxxv.; returns 
to England, xvii., xxxvi., 109; his 
death and character, xxxvii.; value 
of "Plain Dealing," xxxviii.; asks 
forgiveness of the reader for his 
acts against Episcopacy, 3 ; his 
reasons for printing "Plain Deal- 
ing," 3, 4; his objections to Inde- 



pendency, 5 ; how long a resident 
in New England, 1 1 ; date of his 
departure from Boston, 35 ; per- 
haps took notes of Cotton's Lec- 
tures, printed in London, 52 ; makes 
sundry copies of the colonial laws 
for Gov. Winthrop and others, 65, 
72 ; his " Propositions to the Gen- 
eral Court," 69, 70 ; not employed 
by the court, and why, 71; his pa- 
per of advice to Gov. Winthrop, 
76-80 ; extent of his travels in New 
England, 114, 115; several things 
which he disapproved, 1 29-1 31 ; 
discontented, 144, 150; commends 
Bishop Hall's book, " Episcopacie 
by Divine Right asserted," 145 ; 
eschews republican government, 
148 ; a decided monarchist, 140, 
144, 148, 152 ; believes that a 
church cannot exist without a min- 
ister episcopally ordained, 152 ; 
holds that bishops are the suc- 
cessors of the apostles, xxi., 152 ; 
thinks the Indians cannot be con- 
verted without episcopal authority 
and ordination, 153; regards Con- 
gregationalism as unfit both for Old 
England and New, 160. 

Lectures, public, 51, 52. 

Lenthall, Robert, of Weymouth and 
Newport, xxiii., 17, 57» 94- 

Leverich, or Leveridge, William, of 
Dover, Duxbury, and Sandwich, 92. 

Limits of civil and ecclesiastical au- 
thority defined, 36. 

Linen manufacture, no. 

Lions, their cry supposed to be heard. 
112. 

Long Island, loi ; colonized from 
Lynn and Ipswich, 102. 



208 



INDEX. 



Lord's Supper, manner of administer- 
ing, 45 5 46. 

Lothrop, John, of Scituate and Barn- 
stable, 93. 

Loveran, John, 83. 

Ludlow, Roger, 100. 

MAGISTRATES, their power, 
35 ; how chosen, 59. 

Maine, province of, 105. 

Majority, shall it rule ? 38, 39. 

Manufactures, 109 ; encouragement 
of, no. 

Marblehead, 40 ; incorporated, 41. 

Marriage performed by the civil ma- 
gistrate, 86, 87. 

Marshal, an officer of the law, 67. 

Marshall, Thomas, xix. 

Marshfield, 92, 107, 125. 

Martha's Vineyard, 108. 

Martin, Ambrose, dishkes church 
covenants, 57. 

Massasoit, 121. 

Mather, Cotton, his opinion respect- 
ing public confession, 21. 

Mather, Richard, 81, 126. 

Matthews, Marmaduke, 93. 

Maverick, Samuel, 106. 

Mayhew, Thomas, 108. 

Mayo, John, of Barnstable, 93. 

Meeting-house, first, in Boston, de- 
scribed, 43. 

Members of a church, no others can 
be freemen, 59. 

Michelson, Edward, of Cambridge, 
67. 

Micklethwaite, Nathaniel, xviii., xix. 

Military trainings, 89. 

Miller, John, of Rowley, 84. 

Milward, or Millard, Thomas, of Cape 
Ann, 106. 



Ministers in the colony, list of, 81; 
how supported, 50, 51; their meet- 
ings, yi- 

Minority of a church put under cen- 
sure, a contrivance for excluding 
their vote, 39. 

Monarchy the best government, 144, 
148, 152. 

Money, scarcity of, 113. 

Moody, Lady Deborah, buys John 
Humfrey's farm, 98, 99. 

Morality, strict, of New England, 69. 

Mount Wollaston, 41. 

Music in churches, the subject dis- 
cussed by Lechford, 137. 

NEWFOUNDLAND, Lechford 
goes to England by way of, 109. 
Newman, Samuel, of Weymouth and 

Rehoboth, 81. 
Newton, Joan, 88. 
N'ocake, what ? 119. 
No-man's Land, 108. 
Nomination of Assistants, 60. 
Norris, Edward, of Salem, 84. 
Northam [Dover], 102, 103, 125. 
Norton, John, of Ipswich and Boston, 

84, 90. 
Notary Public, the office of, proposed 

by Lechford, 70. 
Nowell, Increase, 86. 
Noyes, James, of Newbury, 56 ; his 

liberal views, 85. 

OBJECTIONS to Congregation- 
alism stated, 132-143. 
Offences, how heard, 29, 30. 
Offley, David, xxxvi. 
Oliver, John, instructs the servants 

at Rumney Marsh, 40. 
Oliver, Thomas, 129. 



INDEX. 



209 



Ordination, how performed, 13 ; epis- 
copal, how regarded, 16 ; does not 
confer an indelible ministerial char- 
acter, 1 7 ; may it be performed by 
laymen ? 128, 129. 

Original equality of all presbyters, 
141. 

Otis, John, of Hingham, 82. 

PANTHERS, mistaken for lions, 
112. 

Parker, James, of Portsmouth, 81. 

Parker, John, of Taunton, 91. 

Parker, Robert, a learned non-con- 
formist in England, 79, 80, 85. 

Parker, Thomas, of Newbury, 56, 85. 

Parker, William, 91. 

Parties in court plead- their own 
cause, 69. 

Partridge, Ralph, of Duxbury, 93. 

Pastors and teachers, distinct offices, 

17, 18 ; debate on this subject in 
the Westminster Assembly, 18 ; 
shall they be chosen by the peo- 
ple ? 139. 

Patent of the colony demanded back, 

65, l(^, 77- 
Peck, Robert, of Hingham, 82. 
Penn, James, appointed beadle, or 

marshal, 67. 
Pequonnock, loi. 
Peters, Hugh, xiv., xvii., xxi., xxiv., 

xxxvi., 84, 102, 104, III, 124; his 

testimony to the strict morality of 

New England, 69. 
Philip, John, of Dedham, 83. 
Phillips, George, of Watertown, 16, 

18, 83. 

Pierson, Abraham, of Southampton, 

lOI. 

Popular elections dangerous, 139, 152. 
22 



Powahes, Indian priests, or conjurors, 
117. 

Printing introduced, 123. 

Productions of the soil, 109. 

Profane swearing scarcely known, 69. 

Profession of religion, how made, 
18-23. 

Prophesying, what ? 42, 43. 

Providence Island, one of the Baha- 
mas, xvii., 113. 

Proxy, voting by, allowed, 60. 

Prudden, Peter, 97, 100. 

Prynne, William, his trial in the Star 
Chamber, and severe sentence, xv., 
xvi. 

Psalms, version of, used, 45. 

Public lectures, 51, 52. 

Public worship, 43. 

QUERIES concerning Church 
Government, 132-143. 

RAGOTZKI, or Rakoczy,George, 
Prince of Transylvania, xvii. 
Randall, Abraham, 88. 
Rashley, Thomas, of Cape Ann, 106, 

107. 
Rathband, William, his statements 
respecting the colonial churches, 

17, 39- 
Rattlesnakes, 112. 
Records of proceedings in court 

sparingly made, 67. 
Reyner, Joim, of Plymouth, 89. 
Richmond's Island, 107. 
Right hand of fellowship, 14. 
Rogers, Ezekiel, of Rowley, 43' 84- 
Rogers, Nathaniel, of Ipswich, 84. 
Rowley, its early manufactures, no. 
Ruling elders, 24. 
Rumney Marsh, now Chelsea, 40. 



2IO 



INDEX. 



SALTONSTALL, Richard, a ma- 
gistrate, 86. 

Savage, James, xviii., xx., xxxiii. 

Savage, Thomas, xix., xxxiv., xxxv. 

Saxton, Peter, of Scituate, 93. 

Scottow, Joshua, of Boston, 44, 52. 

Shepard, Thomas, of Cambridge, 82. 

Slierman, Mary, xix. 

Sherman, Richard, of Boston, xxxiv. 

Ship-building, no ; stimulated by 
Hugh Peters, in. 

Skelton, Samuel, of Sakm, y]^ 42. 

Smith, Henry, of Wethersfield, 97. 

Smith, John, fined for promoting the 
election of Robert Lenthall as min- 
ister of Weymouth, 58. 

Smith, Ralph, of Plymouth, 90. 

Snakeweed, an antidote to the poison 
of the rattlesnake, n2. 

Snows, deep, 114. 

" Sow case," xxxv. 

Squire, John, no. 

Squire, Nicholas, no. 

Star Chamber, xv. 

Stoddard, Anthony, of Boston, 35. 

Stone, Samuel, of Hartford, 97. 

Story, George, xix., xxxiv. 

Stoughton, Israel, xxiii., 31, 86, 100. 

Strafford, Earl of, xv. 

Strawberry Bank [Portsmouth] pat- 
ent, 125. 

Street, Nicholas, of Taunton and New 
Haven, 90, 91, 126. 

Strictness of the colonial churches, 
151. 

Support of ministers, 50, 51, 

Symmes, Zechariah, of Charlestown, 
82, 99. 

Symonds, Henry, 102. 

Symonds, Samuel, of Ipswich, regis- 
ter, 71, 125. 



TAXATION for support of min- 
isters, sometimes resorted to, 5 1 . 
Thomas, WilHam, of Marshfield, 93, 

125, 126. 
Thompson, Maurice, a merchant of 

London, concerned in fishing at 

Cape Ann, 106. 
Tomlyns, Edward, 102. 
Tomlyns, Timothy, 102. 
Tompson, William, of Braintree, 41, 

81. 
Trelawney, Mr., 107. 
Trials, how conducted, 66. 
" Twelve Articles of Religion, The," 

a sermon by John Cotton, 25. 

UNDERHILL, Capt. John, 103, 
104, 124 ; his difficulties at Do- 
ver, 104. 

VEGETABLE productions of 
Massachusetts, 109. 
Verdicts of juries, sometimes at ran- 
dom, 67. 
Vines, Richard, of Saco, 105. 
Voting for governor, &c., how con- 
ducted, 60 ; by proxy allowed, ib. 

WARD, John, of Ipswich and 
Haverhill, 84. 
Ward, Nathaniel, of Ipswich, 84 ; 

frames a body of laws, 64, 65 ; his 

advice to the General Court, 68 ; 

his testimony to the strict morality 

of New England, 69. 
Ware, Mary, 88. 
Warham, John, of Windsor, 97 ; his 

views touching admission to church 

privileges, 57. 
Watertown, its church-bell, 44. 
Watson, John, loi. 



INDEX. 



21 I 



Webb, "alias Evered," John, 107. Williams, Roger, 42, 96; quoted, 17, 
Weld, Thomas, of Roxbury, xxvi., 27, 32, 38, et sape. 

13, 81; quoted, 15, 17, 23, 29, et Willis, John, xl. 

sape. Wilson, John, of Boston, 16, 81, 125, 
Wentworth, Thomas, Earl of Straf- 126. 

ford, XV. Winslow, Edward, 126. 

Weston, Francis, of Salem, 66. Winter, John, 107. 

Weymouth Church, 15, 16, 17. Winthrop, John, xx.; quoted, 14, 16, 
Wheelwright, John, 106. 18, 31, 35, 36, et scepe. 

Whitefield, Henry, of Guilford, 98, Winthrop, Stephen, recorder, 71, 86. 

100. Woollen manufacture, no. 

Whiting, Samuel, of Lynn, 84. Worcester, William, of Salisbury, 85. 

Wiggin, or Wiggon, Thomas, 125. Worship, public, how conducted, 44. 




t 9fl7 



